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MAY 20, 2009
I recently attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of ZF Industries located on Hickory Hills Drive in Corporate Woods. The company, which is headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Germany, is a worldwide supplier of a full line of servo gearboxes for automation, processing, material handling, robotics and industrial tooling applications. The company is constructing a 128,216 sq foot addition onto the west side of the existing building. This project represents an investment of $5.5 million. Currently, ZF employs 170 employees at this location. The Village was able to fast track this project through our approval process to allow ZF Industries to meet an October occupancy date.
In the Vernon Hills Town Center, you will notice a large building being constructed just north of Route 45. This 6 story mixed use building, known as the Heritage Building, will contain retail uses on the ground floor and 84 luxury apartments. Construction is progressing rapidly with the first occupancies projected for late 2009. This building is important to the overall success of the TIF District because it will generate tax revenues which the Village will use to pay off the debt issued by the Village for improvements within the district.
The Ad Hoc Retail Committee received the draft of the Retail Study. The Committee, made up of Vernon Hills residents, has been discussing strategies for improving the retail base in the community. Watch for more information in the near future on this important topic.
DECEMBER 2, 2008
SHOP IN VERNON HILLS: With more than 50% of the Village’s revenues coming from sales tax, that means that when you see a police officer patrolling your neighborhood, or responding to an accident, when you see your streets being plowed, when you see the engineering plan the widening of Fairway and Lakeview, when you see a sidewalk repaired, when you see fireworks on the 4th of July, you are seeing services funded by sales tax. The Village’s ability to provide these services at a high level depends on the continued receipt of sales tax. That is why, during these tough economic times, when retail sales are slumping, it is important for residents to redouble their efforts to do their shopping in Vernon Hills.
OCTOBER 10, 2008
Retail Development in Vernon Hills: In reflecting on the 50th anniversary, the Village of Vernon Hills has a long history of being associated with quality retail development. From the point of initial planning by developers with the mall in the early 1970’s to our latest reviews of the rehab of KFC and Hotel Indigo, much time has been spent by elected officials and staff on the important role of both insuring the quality of development, including architecture and the site.
The Village of Vernon Hills’ branding is “People Planning with Pride.” I am proud to have been a part of many of the improvements and changes that have benefited our community. This planning has come from our entire community including residents and the Village Board. Some of the issues that we have completed or are in progress include:
- Assistance in construction of the Glacier Ice Arena and YMCA;
- The land purchase for construction of the Post Office;
- Our current work with Cook Memorial Library District to construct a building on Aspen Drive;
- The extension of Fairway Drive through the former Nike base, currently the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex (VHAC), which was coordinated with three school districts and the Village along with a number of federal agencies to provide athletic facilities for thousands of young people each year;
- Cooperation with the Park District to reuse the former Village Hall as the Laschen Community Center;
- Construction of the new Village Hall, which currently houses the Evergreen Interim Library;
- Construction and expansion of platforms at the Metra station;
- Our continuing work to improve Route 45. This is a major $50 million plus project that involves four communities, Lake County Department of Transportation, and IDOT. We wish there was a timeframe on this improvement; however, it has been designated as a top engineering priority for the County and that would be the next step to bring construction of a multi-lane configuration to improve traffic, particularly addressing rush hour problems.
As part of this development process, the Village for many years has retained a licensed architect to review plans and the Village Board and staff have been integrally involved in the design and material used on various buildings. Both an in-house landscape architect at one point in time, as well as our consultant, have spent a great amount of time on site review. A good example noted by many of you is the Aspen Pointe development with its plantings and overall building design. In fact, a fair example of the quality is the entire Route 60 corridor. When reviewing the buildings and their set backs, architecture, streetscape, and signage, the time spent by the Village Board, staff, and property owners in the Village is apparent. I would challenge anyone to find many urban or suburban corridors that match the retail aesthetics of Route 60.
Although we are experiencing an economic downturn, Vernon Hills will continue to pursue quality development with good overall site planning. Our funding reserves remain strong and we practice conservative budgeting.
As I mentioned previously, two recent examples include KFC, which is on a small outlot at Hawthorn Fashion Square. The Village Board spent two meetings discussing with the owner’s representative the redevelopment and aesthetics of this site which resulted in numerous changes that were ultimately made to the proposed façade. We spent portions of three meetings discussing the lighting and rehabilitation of the former Amerisuites, now Hotel Indigo. I illustrate the two aforementioned smaller projects to show the detail that the Village spends in reviewing the quality of aesthetics in our community whether the proposal is a small rehabilitation project or a new shopping facility.
As I mentioned before, this review process has a long history. Another example is the original design for KMart. The Board spent time reviewing and attempting to capture a European aesthetic in this original big box building. Subsequently, the Village Board spent a great deal of time with Bradford Realty looking at the redesign the former Builder’s Square/Kmart site of what is now Old Navy, Joann Fabrics, DSW, Ashley Furniture, and Home Depot. This work on quality bodes well for future redevelopment of other properties as they become vacant or underutilized.
Much of the review that we do on buildings and sites also has an important component from our residents. The six Trustees and I receive numerous emails and personal contacts assisting us in getting a “feel” for what residents in our community think is important. Of course, it is always nice to receive compliments, but we also welcome concerns people have with aesthetics and hope to address those either during a development or redevelopment process.
Much has been said about the Village’s revenue benefits from the retail sector. Sales tax represents over 50% of our community revenues for general fund expenditures in our Village. In the early 1990’s, a developer had brought before the Village Board a proposal for BJ’s Wholesale Warehouse at the corner of Aspen Drive and Route 60. The Village Board immediately felt this was an inappropriate use for the site based on previous reviews and studies. We considered a mixed use development, which is now Aspen Pointe, as an optional development for the site. This site was not near any residential areas, there was no opposition to this big box retailer and the use, such as BJ’s Wholesales Club assuming it would still be in business in our area, would generate far in excess of any revenues that the small shops in Aspen Pointe could generate. However, we felt that this was not an appropriate use for the Village at that particular site and were willing to expend Village funds in an amount of $500,000 to defend our zoning in the mid 90’s. Although we try to avoid lawsuits because of the costly nature of the legal fees and expert witnesses, certainly we do not shy away from battling for what we think is appropriate for our community. However, the foundation of any of this litigation needs to have a legal basis, such as zoning to provide a chance for a municipality to prevail.
Several developments we have worked on proactively over the past five years have included the creation of the TIF District, where through redevelopment we have committed to approximately $11 million in increased assessed value within the TIF area. This financial commitment from the increased value of the land, including townhouses, condominiums, construction of College of Lake County South campus building, retail, and several new restaurants and improvements in the roads, including Route 45, Port Clinton and the new Town Center road. All of these improvements will enhance mobility in this area, as well as provide more housing with attractive retail for people in our community.
Another example is a struggle we have been having for the past five years. The Village Board and staff have been meeting with Westfield Corporation to encourage redevelopment of Westfield Hawthorn mall. Many of you have commented to us how the mall has a “tired look” and there is a need to rejuvenate the physical structure, as well as the mix of stores. Early on in our discussions with Westfield, we offered the creation of a Business Tax District that would provide approximately $2.5 million per year for improvements. Even with this incentive that would be paid for by people shopping at the mall, Westfield, at least at this point, has not been able to move ahead with a financially viable project. We continue to communicate with Westfield, even with my attending the International Shopping Center Conference and meeting with Australian representatives of corporate Westfield. We understand Hawthorn Center is critical to the retail mix in our community and are steadfast in our desire to see improvements constructed.
Moving to another retail area, we have again spent a great deal of time with the Gregg’s Landing retail. To date, Lowe’s is open and Staples, Amcore Bank, and a mixed used building are nearing completion. As always, the landscaping, site design, and architecture are critically important. The Board and staff visited a number of sites in the local area, as well as in other states on our various travels, to get ideas on architecture and site design. Several of you sent us photographs from different locations of big box and other retail designs that you felt were attractive. We arrived at the final design after working with the developer for over one year. We have received many positive comments about the design of the Lowe’s building, in fact even the Lowe’s people particularly the construction people that travel from place to place in the United States, indicated that this is one of the highest quality stores from an aesthetic standpoint that has been built in the United States.
For over a year, the Village has been discussing with Bradford Realty the proposal for constructing a Wal-Mart Supercenter north of Gregg’s Parkway. The preliminary concept proposes a massive building of over 200,000 square feet with a number of outlots that would be a very intensive use of the site bounded by Libertyville, Milwaukee Avenue, Gregg’s Parkway, and Bayhill. Every proposal deserves a fair public hearing and a discussion of its merits. However, the Village, including me and the Board, has expressed concerns over the appropriate uses, the massing and the intensity of the project, and the potentially negative impact to the community.
An important fact to remember is that, at this point and over one year out from the original introduction of the concept plan to the public in June 2007, Bradford Realty and Wal-Mart have not entered the first part of a six step review process. I think concerns expressed by the Village Board and myself, coupled with your emails, have had an influence on Bradford not moving ahead with review of this Wal-Mart proposal. Although any concept plan by a landowner can return and will be reviewed on its merits, all of our thoughts are now known to the current developer, as well as any future developer. Again as we discussed at the time, I would caution that any municipality’s ability to review for approval or denial of a particular use and plan of a property is governed by the law, primarily zoning. The President and Village Board do not simply have the ability to arbitrarily approve or deny plans and/or uses on various properties. There is an entire body of law that directs these review processes and the Village is committed to following these requirements.
I thought it was important at this time to provide an overview of my thoughts at this point after 50 years of retail development in our community. I assure you that we will continue the hard work of recruitment of new uses, as well as working with developers to secure the finest buildings and sites for our community and insure that redevelopment of existing sites is performed to the highest standards. As always, we welcome your comments and urge you to contact me at rogerb@vhills.org or Mike Allison, Village Manager, at (847)918-3540/ mikea@vhills.org or John Kalmar, Assistant Village Manager at (847)918-3550/ johnk@vhills.org with your concerns.
Thank you and we look forward to the start of the second 50 years of our community’s development and redevelopment.
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