Rundown shopping center to get makeover
It's dilapidated and considered an eyesore, but the Hanover Square Shopping Center is on the verge of getting a village-backed makeover.
Next month, Hanover Park trustees will decide whether to provide $4.7 million in tax increment financing to entice Northfield-based Exmoor Properties to undertake a $16 million redevelopment.
Norbert Pools, Dino's Foods, small retailers and plenty of vacant storefronts make up the 113,000-square-foot center, on Barrington Road between Maple and Walnut avenues.
Exmoor Properties President Bob Carrane plans to spend $9.3 million acquiring the property and $6.6 million in improvements such as an upgraded facade and new roof, parking lot, lighting, signage and landscaping. The company also expects to demolish the stand-alone Shires Restaurant and hot dog stand, both of which are closed.
The current owner's patience is wearing thin, according to Carrane, who agreed to the deal a year ago. The parties expected village approval months ago, but several factors including the village election and former Village Manager Marc Hummel's firing delayed the process. Last week, following Exmoor's video presentation, trustees told the staff to draft an ordinance approving the redevelopment.
Carrane said he's hopeful the board will OK the final agreement, likely on June 18.
"I've got a fortune invested in preliminaries," he said. "But you don't want to be presumptuous when dealing with a political body."
Construction could start in August and be completed within 12 to 18 months.
The bulk of current rents are $7 per square foot. Exmoor would charge $10 to $12 after the rehabilitation, still well below market rates, to attract tenants. Otherwise, Carrane said, "there's no way to survive in today's economic climate."
A village-hired consultant determined the renovated center could support $15-per-square-foot rents, but said the lower rate would generate more than enough revenue to cover the village's investment.
TIF districts are used to encourage development. A portion of the tax revenue generated by new development pays for some of the project cost.
The proposal did raise reservations.
Trustee Toni Carter thought the $670,000 price tag to buy the boarded up Shires restaurant is too high, saying "it wouldn't be worth that much on the open market."
An Exmoor representative explained that after paying the mortgage and back taxes, the owner would walk away with maybe $50,000.
Exmoor promised Trustee Bob Cannon it would try to hire Hanover Park companies to do the work and the village agreed to look into a resident's concern that a school bus stop would be located at the center's entrance.