New plan for Des Plaines' Five Corners

A draft redevelopment plan for Des Plaines' Five Corners taxing district received mixed reviews Tuesday from area businesses and residents who raised some of the same concerns that have been there from the start.

The plan calls for developing 463,900 square feet of new retail, restaurant, and office space and townhouses within the 70-acre, largely industrial area near Des Plaines' downtown, bound by River, Rand and Golf roads.

Some existing business owners worried what would happen to their customer base if they have to relocate, while residents whose homes are part of the district but fall within a floodplain expressed concerns about getting fair market value for their properties.

Waldos Wegielnik, who owns an auto repair shop off River Road, said he likes his location and does not want to relocate to an industrial area where customers won't find his shop.

"They are destroying some of the old business and opening another business that's (going to be) empty," he said.

For business owners willing to move, the chances of cashing out and selling their properties in the near future may be slim.

Representatives with the city's consultant team, S.B. Friedman & Associates, said it may take a few years for redevelopment to start, considering the current economic climate.

The biggest problem with the Five Corners plan is Des Plaines has no money in its 2010 budget to help spur the redevelopment, so the city must rely on private developers. The only hope of city funding would come from future casino revenues and possibly federal grants, officials said.

Since the Five Corners taxing district's inception three years ago, it has generated only about $450,000 in incremental revenue.

A tax-increment financing district - TIF - freezes property tax payments to local governments for up to 23 years. The extra tax revenue collected as properties are developed within the district and increase in value pays off the original improvements.

"There won't be a lot of increment generated until we see new development," said Mike Conlan, the city's community and economic development director.

Officials admitted the city has no money to purchase property within the district for redevelopment or to offer incentive to developers by helping pay for some infrastructure and cleanup costs.

Conlan said should money become available, officials would likely concentrate on the contaminated properties in the northern part of the district, such as auto scrap yards that are less attractive to developers because of the cost and time involved to ready the site.

Conlan said the city could apply for grants to cover the costs of environmental cleanup once it actually owns the properties.

Kevin Senne, owner of Des Plaines Auto Salvage yard off Golf Road, which has operated there for 30 years, says he tried to fight the TIF district, but now there is nothing more he can do but leave.

Senne said he purchased another salvage yard in Skokie nearly 31/2 years ago when Des Plaines started the Five Corners TIF and says it nearly bankrupted him to keep both places running.

"They won't even talk to me," Senne said of the city. "They won't even make an offer to help me move. They just want me out. And now they are saying it could be 2012. I can't make it until then."

The city council is expected to review the consultants' report and the redevelopment plan next month and possibly adopt it by November.