Dist. 204 hopes to jump start home building

In what they call a “local stimulus program,” Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board members have agreed to delay their collection of fees from a developer of subdivision to spur on the project.

Pulte Homes is planning to build 223 houses at 248th Street and Wolves Crossing, property once owned by the Macom Corporation and considered by the district for its third high school.

“It really is our very own local stimulus program,” board President Curt Bradshaw said. “This is a development that would not happen otherwise. This is a win-win for government and business from the standpoint that this has the potential to create jobs. Absent finding this kind of win-win compromise, these jobs wouldn't be created and we wouldn't collect revenues that are helpful to us.”

District 204 usually collects so-called impact fees up front once a development receives city approval of each phase of a subdivision. The fees from developers help defray the district's costs of educating new students who move into new homes. But in this case, the district will allow the developer to pay impact fees when occupancy permits are issued. When the development reaches 50 percent capacity, the full amount of the remaining impact fees will be due. The district expects to collect about $1.3 million in impact fees from the development.

“These developments will sit idle if we say no to those requests. I think that is highly likely,” said Dave Holm, assistant superintendent of business and finance. “This way, by approving it, we can get some development happening. In a way even though we're delaying payments, we think we're actually speeding things up.”

The city of Naperville and the park district also are involved in the agreement, which Holm said is temporary. “We think when the economy gets back up and running that we would like to go back to the old way of doing business,” he said. “But for now to stimulate some development in the district, we think it is a wise move to go ahead and agree to this.”

The houses in the development are expected to be priced between $320,000 and $420,000 and will be built in three phases from April, 2012 through February, 2015. Original plans called for the development to include townhouses, duplex units, manor homes and also some houses.