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Arlington Heights gives developer tax money for apartments

Arlington Heights will give a developer nearly $1 million over the next eight years in tax increment financing funds to spur construction of apartments and retailers in an area long planned for redevelopment east of downtown.

The redevelopment agreement, approved on a 7-1 vote of the village board Monday night, also will give developers Guido Neri and Ben Pecoraro $700,000 for a 28,400-square-foot parcel to the north of the proposed apartment building at the northwest corner of Kensington Road and Hickory Avenue. The land is intended for future development, but it could be used for business employee parking in the meantime, officials said.

Also under the agreement, the village will pay the developer $800,000 to extend Campbell Street west from Hickory and make streetscape improvements along Hickory and Kensington.

Village officials have been targeting the light industrial area for redevelopment since at least 2013, when the board endorsed a planning document and rezoned land to residential and commercial uses, followed by the TIF enactment in 2014. The latter enabled property taxes to be frozen at a certain level, with revenues above it redirected into a special fund controlled by the village for economic development purposes.

That's what led to negotiations over TIF assistance for the proposed five-story, 76-unit apartment building that would include 3,450 square feet of commercial space on the first floor. The village agreed to pay the developer up to $120,000 a year for up to eight years - an amount tied to the rate of projected financial returns, officials said.

The developer sought a guaranteed payment, but village officials refused and required that financials be submitted each year for their review.

Trustee Thomas Glasgow, the lone "no" vote, said he didn't know whether the $120,000 annual payment - proposed by the developer during negotiations - "is a good amount or bad amount for us to start with."

"It can be a fantastic deal. It can be a crummy deal," he said.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus said the village's TIF consultant - Kane, McKenna and Associates - advised it was a good deal, adding that previous village redevelopment agreements were less conservative since money was given to developers upfront.

The proposed $21.6 million apartment building project, which would feature a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units, will go before the plan commission June 27 before the village board considers final approvals.

If approved, construction could begin in August and be complete by December 2019.

It's all coming together Apartments, single-family homes, day care in Arlington Hts. TIF plans

  A five-story, 76-unit apartment building is proposed for the northwest corner of Kensington Road and Hickory Avenue. The village is providing nearly $1 million in tax increment financing over the next eight years to spur construction. Christopher Placek/cplacek@dailyherald.com
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