Schaumburg residential development gets last shot

The would-be builder of a long-delayed residential development in Schaumburg is being given one last chance to take advantage of financial assistance from the village for the public improvements associated with the project.

Village trustees Tuesday approved a redevelopment agreement with Pleasant Square Homes LLC for the 12-acre Pleasant Square project stretching north from the northwest corner of Schaumburg and Roselle roads.

The agreement allows for funding from the village’s Olde Schaumburg Centre tax-increment finance district, whose ability to support any new projects expires Dec. 31.

Though the agreement allows for funding through Jan. 1, 2017, the TIF district won’t be able to take on any further projects beyond 2012.

Village officials hope the incentives of the agreement will finally help the project first approved in 2005 overcome the sluggishness the housing market has known since then.

“I think it’s positive because it’s the furthest any redevelopment plan has gotten,” Schaumburg Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said. “I think someone eventually will put residential development there because it’s the best use of the property.”

She and her fellow village officials are hoping it will be Pleasant Square Homes and sooner rather than later.

The most recent revision of the plan calls for 93 row houses, eight townhouse units and 10 single-family homes. There’s also a rough plan for 10,000 square feet of commercial space right at Schaumburg and Roselle roads.

The plan has changed a lot from when a much more dense version that included condominiums as well was first proposed by United Land Development and approved.

The TIF district was established around the intersection of Schaumburg and Roselle roads in 1990. It’s responsible for the redevelopment of the southwest corner into Town Square, which includes businesses, restaurants and the Schaumburg Township District Library.

A TIF district works by freezing all taxing bodies’ property-tax income at the level of the district’s first year. Taxes collected above those amounts then go to a village fund to pay for public improvements in the district.