Lakemoor open to development, plans to take marketing show on the road

Lakemoor officials are taking the town to market and hoping to snare development proposals for several areas.

Fresh off the designation of a special financing district at and near the busy corner of routes 12 and 120, village officials are taking the next steps in trying to grow the local economy and ramping up to snare new business.

Website, TIF districts

A website dedicated to providing would-be investors with information on various sites, www.discoverlakemoor.net, debuted Friday. Also, Village Administrator David Alarcon and Matt Dabrowski, director of community and economic development, will take the Lakemoor show on the road to Las Vegas, May 18-20, for the annual International Council of Shopping Centers gathering.

“Our objective is to go ahead and get Lakemoor's name out there,” Alarcon said. “We're trying to formulate a policy of how we're going to move forward with economic development.”

That was a reference to the village board designation in late February of two areas near and around the Route 120/12 intersection as tax increment financing districts. The designation freezes property values for taxing purposes at predevelopment levels, while the tax on subsequent improvements is diverted to a special fund to pay for a variety of development-related expenses.

“We have the funding mechanism in place,” Alarcon said.

Wauconda Unit District 118 sued the village to have the southern district dissolved, claiming it doesn't meet criteria. That action is pending.

The southern district includes 74 acres on the southwest corner of the intersection, which is owned by Inland Real Estate Corp. A shopping center has been envisioned but the land has been vacant since 1992, according to village officials.

That area is high on the marketing list, but Alarcon said the focus is on the entire village. Other areas to be promoted are: near Darrell Road and Route 120, which includes a planned village hall/police complex; an outlot next to a Walgreens store at that corner; and, a collection of vacant property and buildings across from Lily Lake and Morrison Park, which is being called the downtown area.

Alarcon said the village board is proceeding cautiously. Last week, it denied a proposed consulting agreement with Development Services Corporation that called for a minimum commitment of 30 hours a month at $150 an hour, Alarcon said. The board said it was open to consider such an agreement at a later time, he said.

“Basically, what the village board says is let's see what the staff can do now,” he added.