Barrington seals McGrath Volvo move with incentive package
Barrington leaders have approved a financial incentive package as part of a two-step process paving the way the way for an automobile dealership to move from its 53-year downtown location to the village's south side.
McGrath Volvo Cars of Barrington will go from 300 N. Hough St. to the former Barn of Barrington property at 1415 S. Barrington Road. Closed since 2009, the Barn was a traditional restaurant before shifting to a banquet and Sunday brunch venue.
For the move to occur, the Barrington village board in February first approved a special-use permit for McGrath Volvo's plan to construct a 30,000-square-foot automobile sales and service building to replace the shuttered eatery just north of Dundee Road.
Village board members followed up with approval of a maximum $10.3 million sales tax incentive package to be paid in annual installments over the next 10 years. The deal is to help with development, expansion and relocation of the McGrath dealership, which village documents show may cost at least $5.2 million.
As part of the agreement, McGrath will not receive anything from the village until it generates $30,000 in local retail sales tax each year. McGrath then will be eligible to receive one-half of the 1 percent local sales tax it produces annually over the life of the 10-year incentive agreement.
"They will be making a major investment in Barrington and are committed to growing the Barrington Volvo dealership for future growth," village Economic and Community Development Director Peg Blanchard wrote in a memo.
McGrath Volvo will border the Marquardt of Barrington Buick GMC dealership in an auto sales corridor that also includes Motor Werks.
Questions about the Volvo dealership's future in downtown Barrington were raised as far back as 2000, when previous owner Franz Mausser resisted village efforts to relocate the business and redevelop his property. The Volvo dealership opened on Hough Street in 1965.
McGrath bought the downtown Barrington Volvo dealership from the Mausser family in late 2016. McGrath told village officials the business was purchased with an understanding that a new dealership would have to be built elsewhere or improvements made to the downtown facility, which no longer meets Volvo corporate standards.
Plans call for the new Volvo facility to be ready in the fall. The dealership will be leaving a roughly 1-acre property with 70 display spaces for nearly 5 acres where up to 315 vehicles can be parked.