Navistar unveils newest plans for Lisle move

Navistar officials Thursday submitted a new design plan - one that significantly reduces the size of its controversial technology center and moves it away from a neighboring school for autistic children - to the village of Lisle.

They expect Lisle's planning and zoning commission to hold hearings on the new designs next month.

Navistar officials want to move the company's corporate headquarters from nearby Warrenville to the former Alcatel-Lucent building at 2600 Warrenville Road in Lisle. A landmark building known for its "satellite dish" facade has sat vacant for several years.

Initial designs showed a technology center and diesel engine testing facility on the campus' far east side next to a residential neighborhood and 632 feet from the front door of Giant Steps school for autistic children.

Navistar Vice President and Chief Information Officer Don Sharp said the new proposal reduces the engine testing stations from more than 60 to six, two of which are used to test hybrid engines, which cause fewer emissions.

The new location of the testing facility is proposed to be more than 1,600 feet from Giant Steps, an equal distance between the school and nearby I-88.

"These are very positive steps in the right direction," said Shawn Collins, an attorney representing the school. "One of the things we will certainly want to know from Navistar is whether it will commit to not expand this diesel-engine testing facility from beyond what is in the current proposal."

Experts have said that autistic children are more affected by increased noise and air pollution.

"Increased emissions created by the technology center are similar to if it were a regular office building or a school building," Sharp said. "And those emissions are mainly from a natural gas boiler."

Additional design changes include decreasing fuel storage capacity at the site from the original proposal of 162,000 gallons to about 12,000 gallons. Storage containers would be buried. Sharp noted the average gas station stores anywhere from 30,000 to 90,000 gallons. The company will be adding scores of evergreen trees along the eastern edge of the property to create a buffer between the commercial property and its residential neighbors, Sharp added.

The designs are needed as Navistar is seeking Lisle's approval to create a special taxing district at the new site that will allow increased property tax revenue generated there to be used to fund infrastructure projects on the campus in the future.

Some residents remain concerned about the implementation of the taxing district and the impact it will have on residential property tax rates.

The move is also contingent on the donation of a 3-acre ring road behind the property that is being purchased for $1.5 million from the forest preserve by Lisle and DuPage County using economic development funds. That agreement expires at the end of this month and forest preserve officials have indicated they would be unwilling to grant an extension unless some issues they have with Navistar's plans are cleared up. Sharp said he is hopeful the new designs will appease the forest preserve commissioners.

"We believe and hope with the changes we've made, those concerns will be addressed," Sharp said.

More than 3,100 people will work in the new headquarters if approved. That's 1,500 moving from Warrenville and another 1,600 jobs being relocated or created, Sharp said. Up to 1,000 of those jobs will be "new to Illinois," he said.