Taxes too tall a hurdle for gymnastic academy’s move to Palatine

Eyeing a possible move to a larger facility in Palatine, the operators of the American Academy of Gymnastics in Wheeling had agreed on a purchase price with the building’s seller, lined up financing for the project, got enthusiastic approval from the village and even had bids on the table for renovation work.

“We were all ready to go,” academy CEO Kurt Waller said.

Then they saw the vacant building’s property tax bill, effectively killing the deal.

The academy, a longtime breeding ground for some of the area’s elite gymnasts, will stay in Wheeling indefinitely and continue to lease its current space, Waller said.

According to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office, the first installment — or about half — of the 2010 tax bill for the academy’s would-be Palatine home was $62,000. When the Brunswick bowling alley occupied the building at 519 S. Consumers Ave., near Northwest Highway, the yearly taxes were closer to $160,000, Waller said.

“Because of the taxes, we can’t make this happen,” Waller said. “I’m more than a little disappointed about it.”

Palatine Councilman Scott Lamerand, who last month joined other officials in unanimously approving the academy’s proposal to open a gym at the former bowling alley, isn’t the least bit surprised to hear the deal collapsed.

“It’s a problem we’ve been screaming about,” Lamerand said. “We as a village try to mitigate challenges, but the reality is Cook County is a very expensive place to be located.”

He considered the American Academy of Gymnastics a perfect fit for the area and said it would have filled one of the many large commercial vacancies in Palatine.

Arlington Heights attorney Jack Emmons, who specializes in residential real estate and was briefly consulted by Waller regarding the move, said he empathizes with the academy’s plight as the owner of a commercial building with more than 30 tenants.

Since he bought his building at 855 E. Golf Road about 12 years ago, property taxes have nearly doubled to about $90,000. And he winds up in an expensive battle with the county every three years upon the property’s reassessment.

“I’ll never buy another commercial property again,” said Emmons, who believes the tax burden has been shifting from the city to the suburbs and sees illogical discrepancies in the assessed value of properties across Cook County.

As for the academy, which opened in 1973 in Des Plaines and since 1985 has operated at 280 E. Palatine Road in Wheeling, Waller said his partners plan to reinvest in the current facility. They’ve already made several upgrades since taking over the business last year, including improving the parents’ area.

He said they’re reluctant to look for a cheaper venture in Lake County because the bulk of the academy’s students live closer to the Wheeling location and the market is too competitive to risk making parents drive farther.

“It was an exciting prospect, but we’re in good shape here and we’ll continue producing world-class gymnasts,” Waller said of the academy, which has trained four men and two women who have competed in the World Championships.