Lincolnshire is developing for the future

As part of an ongoing project, the Daily Herald asked local business and village leaders about what kind of economic development projects were on the way in their communities. Here are the answers from Lincolnshire Village Manager Bob Irvin.

Q. How do you go about supporting business development in your community?

A. We are currently constructing the infrastructure on the village's triangle in the TIF District. This includes stormwater management facilities, Indian Creek bank stabilization, site preparation for relocation of the cell tower and stubbing utilities to the site. Traffic signal access from Milwaukee Avenue was completed last year and access from Route 22 will be added this year when IDOT completes its improvements to the Route 21/22 intersection. We provide an available building and site inventory and map on the village's Web site and provide information to Lake County Partners, the development facilitator in Lake County.

Q. What is currently in the works (ground has been broken or will be in the next couple months)?

A. Bridge Development, a 170,000-square-foot office building, is under construction. Panatonni Construction, a 105,000-square-foot office/warehouse, is under construction and will be leased to Star Creations.

Q. What is in the planning stages?

A. Nothing firm in the planning stages at this time.

Q. What is your town's biggest economic development wish?

A. Development of the village's downtown triangle property with a grocery store as the main anchor.

Q. What is your community's single greatest asset or selling point to potential developers?

A. Location, overall lower property taxes than many of our neighbors, a variety of available buildings and properties.

Q. Have the challenges presented by the current downturn forced you and your community to approach economic development differently? What are the changes and how well are they working?

A. We currently address economic development in a similar manner, but we have also had an opportunity to focus on internal processes, such as building permit processing to improve efficiencies and turnaround times, and a comprehensive update to our sign code. We will also be comprehensively reviewing our zoning code and comprehensive plan. As mentioned above, we are proceeding with getting the village downtown triangle property ready for future development.