Tinley Park officials OK $9.9 million redevelopment deal for Tinley Park Plaza owners

CORRECTION: This version corrects the voting by the Village Board on the second item regarding the TIF agreement. Richard Free Press incorrectly reported that Trustee Michael Glotz voted for the TIF agreement, when he in fact voted against. The TIF agreement passed 4-2, with Glotz joining Trustee Cynthia Berg in voting against it. We regret the error.

By Jon DePaolis

TINLEY PARK, Ill. — The Village of Tinley Park Board of Trustees voted 5-1 and 4-2 Tuesday, Sept. 15, on items to approve a redevelopment deal and a TIF agreement with the owners of the Tinley Park Plaza shopping district that can reach up to $9.9 million.

Trustee Cynthia Berg cast dissenting ballots in both votes, while Trustee Michael Glotz voted against the TIF agreement.

The deal — which was requested by Brixmoor IA Tinley Park Plaza, LLC — will aim to revitalize the properties located just south of 159th Street, from 15903 Harlem Ave. to 16205 Harlem Ave.

“Brixmoor Property Group is seeking a special use for a planned unit development with exceptions related to Phase I of the redevelopment of Tinley Park Plaza,” Trustee Michael Mueller said. “The project includes the demolition of 87,000 square [feet] of an existing building and the construction approximately 66,600 square feet for retail uses and general improvements to the in-line tenants, including façade improvements, landscaping and parking lot improvements.”

Mueller also said the owners of the shopping center have met the requirement necessary for consideration of a TIF agreement and the sharing of Village funds.

“Without the assistance, the renovation plans would not be able to be undertaken, which would be expected to negatively impact the continued operation of the shopping center and Village revenues received from it,” Mueller said.

At the Sept. 1 Committee of the Whole meeting, Village Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen said Brixmoor’s redevelopment of the shopping center would cost approximately $21.9 million. The agreement, which was described as heavily performance-based, will provide financial assistance to Brixmoor in an amount not to exceed $9.9 million or 50% of the actual project costs — whichever is lower.

“This assistance will be funded by a combination of TIF incremental revenues generated by the shopping center properties alone, and incremental municipal sales taxes of 1% generated by all the businesses located in the shopping center over a 10-year period,” Mueller said. “A maximum of $8.1 million of TIF-eligible costs are to be paid from the TIF increment generated, with the remainder of $1.8 million to be paid from incremental sales taxes. The portion of the incentive to be funded between the TIF-eligible costs and sales tax can fluctuate based on actual expenses, but in addition to the overall $9.9 million cap, the amount that can be provided from incremental sales taxes cannot exceed $2.5 million.”

While Berg did not share her reasons for voting against the redevelopment agreement at the Sept. 15 meeting, at the Committee of the Whole meeting earlier in the month, she said she was opposed to taxpayer money being used to fund corporations.

“With the Village budget being in free fall as it is, I don’t feel that this is the right move at this time,” Berg said at the Sept. 1 meeting.

Glotz also shared why he was not in favor of the TIF agreement at the Sept. 1 meeting. He said he thought the Village staff did a great job on the agreement but was not on board with the amount of monetary assistance that was being proposed.

“I’m happy that it is going to be refreshed,” Glotz said earlier this month. “I just struggle with the percentage of money that they are receiving.”