Car dealership coming to Streamwood, wants to expand to vacant land
As construction continues on a Streamwood car dealership that upset neighbors in a townhouse subdivision, developers are now asking the village to incorporate vacant land where they want to park models.
The Toyota-Scion dealership on Chicago Street in Elgin expects to relocate to an 81,000-square-foot showroom and service center near Lake Street and Elizabeth Drive in Streamwood this spring. Owners have told the village they will employ 125 people at the building, south of the Forest Ridge subdivision and northwest of Villa Olivia, a Bartlett Park District golf, banquet and ski venue.
Developers pitched the $12 million project before the village board in summer 2013, touching off complaints from residents worried about traffic, declining property values and other concerns.
But the promise of new jobs and the development of a long-vacant site where the old Ace Coffee Service closed prompted trustees to award a lucrative sales tax rebate to the dealership's developers. The deal expires in 18 years - or until developers get back up to $6 million in sales tax revenue or 50 percent of project's cost, whichever is less.
Bob Loquercio, the head of an auto group that owns Elgin Toyota, said at the time the dealership couldn't secure adequate financial incentives to remain in Elgin.
Since construction began in early 2014, Streamwood officials have not received any negative feedback from residents, Village Manager Gary O'Rourke said.
Trustees will get input on the developers' latest proposal during a public hearing 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at village hall, 301 E. Irving Park Road. The dealership is buying a parcel to the east that doesn't directly border residential neighborhoods where it wants to store additional vehicles, O'Rourke said.
Owners also are urging the village to annex the unincorporated Cook County land into Streamwood. Trustees could vote on the request in the next two to three months.
A representative with the dealership did not return messages Friday.