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Hoping to spur development, Round Lake annexes 57 acres

The village of Round Lake grew by about 57 acres Tuesday night after the village board voted to annex land on the southwest tip of the village. But because the land is vacant, the only people likely to be immediately affected by the vote are cartographers.

The land is southwest of the intersection of Route 120 and North Wilson Road and is across the street from Baxter's Round Lake corporate offices.

Owned by the village since 2007, the land had been considered unincorporated Lake County.

Village Administrator Steve. J. Shields said the reason the village bought the land 10 years ago was because there was talk that Advocate would build a hospital there.

Mayor Dan McGillis said the village voted to annex the land so it could better prepare it for future retail development, something he said the village needs.

"The village of Round Lake has the lowest retail tax base per capita in the state of Illinois," McGillis said after the meeting Tuesday night. "We are doing everything we can to try to generate some new additional revenue streams, and this is one of the ideas we have."

McGillis joked that he prays every night that a big company decides to build a new store on the newly annexed land.

"We have all the plans right now, but unless the stars align and our prayers are answered it doesn't happen," McGillis said. "So this is just one more nudge to try to get those stars aligned."

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