Mt. Prospect trustees spell out Randhurst aid plan
Mount Prospect trustees flushed out a $25 million aid package to help rebuild Randhurst mall on Tuesday. Back in August 2008, the board declared the site a business improvement district, which gives the board the power to increase some taxes to improve the property.
On Tuesday, trustees backed increasing the village's hotel tax from 3 percent to 6 percent and adding a quarter percent "business district retailer's occupation" tax for Randhurst occupants only. The board also wants to tack on a 25-cent amusement tax to the sale of movie tickets. In addition, all of the food and beverage taxes generated by the site would go back into the redevelopment fund.
These additional taxes affect only Randhurst businesses and not the village's general fund, said Bill Cooney, Mount Prospect's director of community development.
"The $25 million is generated by the project itself," he said.
In 2007, Randhurst contributed $3.65 million in sales tax revenue back to the village, Cooney said. Once completed, he expects the village to receive an additional $1 million.
Trustee John Korn said if Randhurst's developer falls short, the village is not responsible for paying the $25 million.
"Citizens need to better understand what we're doing out here," he said. "We're not giving them $25 million."
Meanwhile, the costs to rebuild the mall have climbed from $150 million to almost $200 million, Cooney said. Originally the new Randhurst was supposed to open in the spring of 2010. The grand opening is now slated for spring 2011.
Almost a year ago, crews ripped down the outer portion of the mall after working for months gutting the inside, which once housed about 80 shops. The main anchor stores have remained and are currently open.
The new Randhurst Village will include a new theater, hotel, restaurant and retail and office spaces.
The redevelopment plan calls also for a number of restaurants and 25 smaller buildings to be scattered around the site. The plan allows for rental dwellings units to be built some time in the future if the developer chooses. In addition, Hampton Inn is planning a 120-room hotel complete with a pool on the site.
Earlier this summer Jim Conroy, Casto's director of development, said a Chipotle restaurant and a Five Guys Burger and Fries will go into the former Egg Factory site. A T-Mobile store will also open there, he said.
Casto owns the mall with JP Morgan Chase and wants to reinvent the mall to be similar to the The Glen Town Center in Glenview. That open-air mall is part of a 1,100-acre site for retail, offices and homes built on a former naval air station.
Mount Prospect will host another public hearing on Randhurst's business improvement district on Dec. 8 before discussing the plan again on Dec. 15.