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Libertyville

Heather Rowe, economic development coordinator

Q. What signs of economic turnaround do you see in your community?A. Libertyville continues to see improvement, including a good number of new businesses moving to the village. Many of our merchants also reported increased sales during the first quarter of 2010 over last year; this is reflected in a modest increase in sales tax. Our residential building permit applications have also rebounded a bit, which shows some confidence returning in family budgets. Also, several new residential developers are taking a strong interest in new home construction in Libertyville, including School Street District LLC and IG Construction.The retail center recently constructed at the northwest corner of Milwaukee and Route 176 (Park Avenue) has seen quick occupancy by very established tenants, including Five Guys Burgers Fries, Chipotle, CD One Price Cleaners, Dunkin' Donuts, and several that are in the pipeline.Q. What type of new development will be most prevalent? Retail, residential, industrial, office or something else?A. We expect to see occupancy of a number of available industrial/warehouse type structures. And medical office interest is likely to grow in connection with expansion at Advocate Condell Hospital. Residential growth will likely occur in smaller, in-fill-type projects.Q. How optimistic are you that vacant storefronts and office buildings will be filled during this turnaround? A. Our storefronts continued to be occupied during the economic downturn and we expect this trend to only continue. Because of the large quantity of available office space in Lake County, it may take some time to achieve the desired office occupancy level. Fortunately for businesses looking to grow, there are some tremendous office spaces available in Libertyville, and the community offers the desired business support services (restaurants, hotels, accountants, etc.) and commuter train service to support their needs.Q. What do you think local, state and/or national government leaders could do to enhance the recovery? (Answer provided by Mayor Terry Weppler and village staff)A. The extension of Route 53 north will improve transportation substantially for the entire region and will allow for additional business locations at the northwest corner of the village. Further legislative support for this effort would be effective. Certain pension reforms might be considered.Q. Do you agree that this will be a jobless recovery or are the suburbs more or less immune to that?A. Industries use the turnaround time as a period to become more efficient and often restructure their operations, reducing work force temporarily - few areas, including Libertyville, are immune to this. While there may be temporary reductions in the Libertyville work force, we expect employment to return as many of our strong corporations look to grow and as new businesses are constructed on our developable parcels.Q. What is your town's biggest economic development wish? (i.e.: to fill a certain empty big box; to find a developer for a large vacant parcel; to create a town center, etc.)A. Libertyville strives to provide a diverse business community that provides jobs and services to our residents. Of immediate interest is redevelopment of the vacant land adjoining the Libertyville Sports Complex, retail development at the southwest corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Peterson Road, the southeast corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Route 176, and the southeast corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Artaius Parkway, as well as development of additional manufacturing businesses on industrial parcels in the northwest section of the village.Q. What is your community's single greatest asset or selling point to potential developers?A. Libertyville has a reputation as a thriving community with a very responsive, supportive government and staff that work hard to make it easy to build in the village. The village has an Economic Development Commission, a Marketing Commission and a business liaison whose job it is to respond to the needs of our business community.Q. Have the challenges presented by the current downtown forced you and your community to approach economic development differently? A. Economic development has been a priority of the village for a long time. Recently, there is an increased focus on promotion of local businesses. Earlier this year Mayor Weppler and the village board established a marketing committee to assist in promoting existing businesses and to more broadly market the communities' amenities. We recently published and distributed a Libertyville Dining Guide (available online at Libertyville.com). Our business community has also worked together on shop local campaigns, such as Shop 60048.