Schaumburg considering extending nearby TIF district onto controversial Loeber property

A revised residential proposal for Schaumburg’s 33-acre Loeber Farm property adjacent to Rolling Meadows will get a public review next month just as village officials consider extending a nearby tax incentive to include the project.

At its Dec. 9 meeting, the Schaumburg village board is expected to begin a monthslong process to extend an existing tax increment financing district north of Algonquin Road. The TIF district already covers the ongoing Verdian redevelopment project and entertainment district along Meacham Road, east of the Loeber site.

The following day, the village’s zoning board of appeals will hold a hearing on Nitti Group LLC’s proposal for 122 residential units divided among 43 single-family homes, 37 row houses and 42 townhouses on the property.

The new development plan replaces a controversial one for 357 apartment, townhouse and rowhome rental units that drew anger from residents and officials in neighboring Rolling Meadows in 2024 and was withdrawn before it reached a vote by Schaumburg trustees.

Several redevelopment plans have been submitted for the Loeber property in the past, none with a TIF district request.

Such tax incentives can provide funding for public improvements associated with private development. Such necessary improvements for the Loeber property are considered extraordinary and include water and sewer utilities, a bridge over the creek and a sanitary lift station due to the elevations on the site, Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said.

Considerations of the TIF district and development proposal would run parallel and not get ahead of one another, Mayor Tom Dailly said.

He believes a TIF district might also help control the costs of developing the site which were likely responsible for the larger size of earlier proposals.

“It gives us an opportunity to reduce the density,” Dailly said.

Furthermore, the village would want such assurances that a bridge on the site was capable of supporting the weight of fire engines. Such a bridge would likely require at least $1 million for its construction, Dailly said.

The total development cost of the Nitti proposal is estimated at $82 million. The village is considering giving $4.8 million to eligible projects from the $17 million in TIF revenue the site is expected to generate during the remaining life of the district.

A TIF district can last for up to 23 years, but the one proposed to be extended will already be 12 years old in 2026. The time remaining is enough to generate the money needed for public improvements, Frank said.

TIF districts work by freezing the amount of property taxes local governments collect at the level of the first year. As property values and taxes rise, the increase goes to a municipally held fund for eligible projects.

A joint review board of all the affected local governments will have to be reconvened as part of the process to extend the TIF district, Frank said. With the notifications required for each step, it’s expected the village board would be in a position to approve the extension in March.

A representative of Elmhurst-based Nitti Group could not be reached for comment Tuesday.