Des Plaines eyes deal for partial Five Corners redevelopment

Des Plaines city officials are considering signing a letter of intent with Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises to redevelop roughly 20 acres of the Five Corners taxing district.

The 70-acre Five Corners redevelopment area is centered around Rand and River roads. The district has been controversial since the redevelopment would affect existing businesses.

City officials have been in talks with Forest City for more than a year over the northern 20 acres of the TIF district.

Forest City has a development in Bolingbrook called The Promenade Bolingbrook, a 736,000-square-foot open-air center developed in the "main street" style. The $135 million center is anchored by Macy's and Bass Pro Shops.

"We want to enter into a redevelopment agreement that makes them the preferred developer in that area," said Des Plaines 3rd Ward Alderman Laura Murphy, chair of the community development committee. "There is no development happening anywhere so for us to spark some interest in that, it's very exciting."

Murphy did not give further details of the deal, but said, "the next council will decide the specifics in the redevelopment agreement."

Last May, city officials unveiled preliminary plans for the largely industrial area near Des Plaines downtown - more than 20 acres bound by River, Rand and Golf roads. The vision for that site includes housing a SuperTarget and smaller stores selling office supplies, shoes, clothes or electronics.

Murphy said the developer will incorporate those ideas, developed as part of Chicago-based consultant S.B. Friedman's master plan for the Five Corners taxing district.

"We would like some big items like that (SuperTarget)," Murphy said. "It would be a planned development and that really is the whole purpose of the TIF. A salvage yard is not the appropriate business to be located in that area."

The area has two existing salvage yards.

In order to develop the site, the city will offer incentives largely to pay for environmental cleanup because brownfield grants aren't readily available to private entities, Murphy said.

A tax increment financing district, or TIF, freezes property tax payments to local governments for up to 23 years. The extra tax revenue collected as the property is developed and increases in value pays off the original improvements.

"It has been a salvage yard for a long time," she said. "Obviously remediation is number one and it's a significant cost, and probably some public utilities and things of that nature. But still the developer will drive the redevelopment in that area."

The city council will consider the Forest City letter of intent at its April 20 meeting.