Schaumburg hopes TIF creates new entertainment district
Schaumburg officials are preparing to start a new tax increment financing district they hope will attract entertainment-oriented businesses around the village’s convention center and pay for tollway interchange ramps at Meacham and Roselle roads.
The boundaries of the proposed district will be Algonquin Road on the north, the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway to the south, Roselle Road on the west and Arbor Drive to the east.
That’s larger than the nearby TIF that ended in 2011 after less than three years. That earlier district, though occupying the same general area, had been more focused on the possibility of a STAR line train station along the tollway at Meacham Road.
Village officials hope the new district will lead to replacing some of the underused office buildings with an entertainment district similar to, but more dense than, the MB Financial Park at Rosemont, which features a movie theater, bowling alley and several restaurants.
Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said a recently expired TIF district already has proved how effective the districts can be in stimulating economic development with the creation of Town Square at Roselle and Schaumburg roads.
The new proposal also should help alleviate traffic congestion in addition to creating an area attractive to visitors, he said.
“The properties we’re talking about are just begging for economic redevelopment, and it’ll help our convention center,” Larson said.
The new TIF will focus primarily on commercial properties, but it also includes some apartment and condominium complexes near the convention center along Algonquin Road. Most were part of the last TIF, but the new one also will encompass the International Village apartments at the northwest corner of Meacham and Algonquin roads.
Schaumburg’s Economic Development Manager Matt Frank said adding sidewalks and bike paths is a possibility, in line with making the entire district more pedestrian-friendly.
The village has no plans to condemn any residential properties, but as with the last TIF district, some private redevelopment is possible.
Implementation of the TIF district was delayed this year by adding the previously unincorporated site that will soon become the North American headquarters of Sunstar Americas Inc. Without the promise of the TIF district, that development and the 400 jobs it will bring to Schaumburg would not have happened, Frank said.
A TIF district works by freezing the property taxes local governments receive at the level of the district’s first year. As values rise, increases in the amount of taxes collected go to a municipally held fund to pay for public improvements in the district. A TIF district expires after 23 years or when all public improvements have been paid off, whichever comes first.
A public information meeting is planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, at village hall, 101 Schaumburg Court. This will be followed by an Oct. 25 meeting for other area taxing bodies financially affected by the TIF district, and a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20.
Final approval of the district is anticipated in either December or January, Frank said.