Navistar confirms renewed interest in Lisle site

Navistar officials said the truck and engine manufacturing giant is re-examining the former Alcatel-Lucent building in Lisle as a potential site for its future corporate headquarters.

The two companies agreed to extend the property sale agreement through the end of the year, Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward said. The deal had been set to expire Tuesday. It has been in place since November 2009, Ward said.

Navistar, currently located in neighboring Warrenville, has twice submitted development plans to Lisle's planning and zoning commission that call for upgrades and renovations to the building with the distinctive satellite-dish facade at 2600 Warrenville Road. The company withdrew the most recent set of plans in May, complaining that opponents of the proposal were sullying the company's reputation with false allegations.

Residential neighbors had opposed the company's relocation for a variety of reasons, including air quality concerns related to a proposed engine testing facility. Navistar presented experts at the hearings who said the exhaust created from the proposed facility were no more harmful than fumes coming from cars passing daily along nearby I-88.

Navistar officials said they would examine other opportunities in other states after pulling the relocation plan. Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan interceded in an attempt to mediate the differences between neighbors and the company.

Don Sharp, Navistar's vice president of communications, said company officials have continued to meet with representatives from Madigan's and Quinn's offices since June.

"The discussions have been very helpful," he said.

Sharp also said Alcatel-Lucent's recently submitted petition with Lisle to subdivide the 87-acre campus to separate a 3-acre sliver that houses a day care center has nothing to do with Navistar's interest in the property. The village's planning and zoning commission is scheduled to hear that case Sept. 15.

"We're doing this to make the larger property more marketable," Ward said.

If Navistar does make another attempt to move to the Lisle site, the company will have to deal with the process of securing a controversial intergovernmental agreement among the county, Lisle and the forest preserve district for a 3-acre ring road again.

Previously, the county and Lisle had agreed to pay the forest preserve $1.5 million for the road and intended to hand it over to Navistar in return for guarantees on job creation and the length of time the company will have to remain in Lisle. But that agreement expired last month. However, several government officials said reinstating that agreement likely wouldn't be that difficult if everything else were in place first.