Bartlett welcomes two new businesses

Bartlett residents: Prepare to loosen your belts. Plans are nearly set to welcome the family restaurant Two Toots Train Whistle Grill and an Italian pasta-making company Rana Meal Solutions to the village. Both projects are getting government incentives.

Two Toots Train Whistle Grill, which also has locations in Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove, is interested in the end cap space of the Bartlett Town Center, which faces the Metra station — an ideal location for the train-themed restaurant, which also will be in proximity to the Bartlett Depot Museum.

Owner Dale Eisenberg estimates that it will cost about $275,000 for construction and equipment, which, he said, the developer would typically pay but cannot due to it being under severe financial restraint in the current economic environment. Eisenberg is asking for village help in paying those costs as well as waiving of the permit fees of approximately $3,500 for the 2,200 square foot space.

Conditions of the draft incentive agreement with the village state that the restaurant would have to operate for at least three years, and if it closed before that time Eisenberg would be required to repay the full incentive. If all goes as planned, the restaurant is projected to open in May.

Rana Meal Solutions, the largest producer of fresh pasta in Europe, is hoping to establish its American roots with a manufacturing plant set in the Brewster Creek Business Park. Rana hopes to purchase the 100,000-square-foot building at 550 Spitzer Road with the help of a state tax credit incentive of $960 per employee for a 10-year period. Rana plans to have 100 employees initially and hopes to expand to more than 150 employees, making the tax credit incentive $96,000 per year for a 10-year period, documents show.

Rana was interested in the property due to its proximity to Greco Foods and Perfect Pasta, as well as a desire to be in the Midwest, officials said.

Village staff has recommended that a $50,000 incentive be given to Rana for build-out costs, which will come out of the Brewster Creek tax increment financing account. In a TIF, incentives are paid for with future increases in property tax revenue from the development.

Rana will not immediately have a retail location. It will feature machine-driven production including a tortellini line, a sauce line and a line featuring new pasteurization technology never before used in the United States, company officials said.