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Grayslake plans tax to lure developers for old fair site

Grayslake plans to use a special sales tax in an effort to lure developers to the long-vacant former Lake County Fairgrounds.

Village board members on Tuesday are expected to approve an ordinance that would allow creation of a sales tax in a new business district for the roughly 100-acre site. If a sales tax were enacted for the land at routes 45 and 120, the revenue would be used for reimbursement of redevelopment and infrastructure costs.

Mayor Rhett Taylor said at recent meeting the site-specific village sales tax would make the old fairgrounds “more palatable” to developers. It's yet to be decided how much sales tax would be charged.

“This would allow the village to give the flexibility to create a special sales tax just in that area to recapture the costs the village may incur, village taxpayers may incur, in helping redevelop that property for economic development,” Taylor said.

Vacant since the Lake County Fair moved to Peterson and Midlothian roads six years ago, the property had been pegged for an 807,000-square-foot plaza built by SKW Capital Management of Deerfield and suburban Cleveland-based Developers Diversified Realty Corp. The Grayslake village board approved the project in 2007, capping three years of work.

But what was to be The Fairgrounds at Grayslake never started, in part, because of the recession. Plans had called for the plaza to have architecture reflecting the village's 120-year history with old-fashioned lampposts, cupolas and dormers.

Michael Stewart, managing director of the Grayslake Business Partnership, said recent market studies indicate the former fairgrounds site is considered viable for 300,000 to 500,000 square feet of shopping and dining. The business group is a nonprofit, public-private economic development group with involvement from the village.

Stewart said Monday that about 25 matches, including niche retailers and restaurants, have been identified for the 100 acres as part of the market study.

“On the timeline and expectation for development, we expect that the former fairgrounds will get debris and structures cleared this year to make the site ready for development,” said Stewart, who had 15 years of experience in private banking and consulting to the pharmaceutical industry before heading the 6-month-old Grayslake economic development organization.

Stewart said he believes developers will find the fairgrounds site attractive because of the nearby Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital Grayslake facility, which has grown to become a free-standing emergency center open 24 hours a day.

Michael Stewart
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