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Up to $30 million incentive lures Gallagher back to Rolling Meadows

Insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will be getting up to $30 million in tax increment financing district money to move back to Rolling Meadows, and officials said construction on the new headquarters will start next week.

The Rolling Meadows City Council on Tuesday approved the new TIF district and agreement with Gallagher that provides for funding over a 15-year period.

“I want to say how excited Gallagher is about the opportunity to come to Rolling Meadows. We've put a lot of work into this plan, and we are excited to be a part of this community,” said Cara Richardson, vice president of sourcing and procurement.

Gallagher, the fourth-largest commercial insurance broker in the country, plans to move its headquarters from Itasca to 2850 Golf Road into the west tower of the Meadows Corporate Center, which it purchased last year. Gallagher was a tenant of the same center for about 15 years before moving to Itasca in 1991.

Eventually, Gallagher will become one of the city's largest employers, with as many as 2,200 employees on the Rolling Meadows site.

While several alderman admitted the deal is expensive for the city, most said it will help Rolling Meadows in the long run.

“We believe this to be overall beneficial to the city's economic development initiatives,” said Linda Ballantine, executive director of the Rolling Meadows Chamber of Commerce, who said the agreement and new TIF district are “very important” to the city.

Alderman Brad Judd and Robert Banger Jr. voted against different parts of the four-part approval of the project and establishing of the TIF district, but everything passed with a majority vote of the council. Alderman John D'Astice voted an enthusiastic “absolutely yes” to each item for the project, which will take place in his ward.

“You saw different votes this evening based on people's thoughts about how government should work, but not a single person up here wouldn't join me in saying, ‘Welcome home to the city of Rolling Meadows,'” said Mayor Tom Rooney to Gallagher representatives after the vote. “We are thrilled to have you back. The trust you've put in us as a community will be well worth it.”

Rooney said the agreed-upon shorter TIF district life — 15 years rather than the standard 23 — is a positive sign of good corporate citizenship.

Richardson said construction on the site will start next week with crews working six days a week to gut the building and do a massive overhaul of the facilities. A formal groundbreaking with Gallagher executives and local politicians will be held Aug. 25, she said.

Gallagher plans to move employees into the building in the first quarter of 2017.

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