Huntley approves incentive for north-side Walgreens

In hopes of creating more shopping options for residents on the north side of town, the Huntley village board on Thursday approved an incentive to lure Walgreens to the village.

The village will give Crossroads Development Partners $75,000 in rebates; in exchange, the developer is expected to open a new Walgreens at the northeast corner of Reed Road and Route 47 by July 2010.

"We were excited to see there was going to be commercial development for the northern part of the village," Village Manager Dave Johnson said. "It's probably easier for folks on that end of town to go east."

Huntley already has a Walgreens off Route 47 about 2.5 miles south of the proposed new store.

Residents have had to wait awhile for a second store.

The village board first approved a Walgreens at the Reed Road location in June 2008.

But the deal to bring the drugstore to the village fell through because the developer, Mid-America Development Partners, was unable to secure financing, according to the village.

Crossroads Development Partners took over the project earlier this year and approached the village this month to ask for $175,000 in incentives.

The village and the developer finally settled on $75,000, which includes a sales tax rebate of $64,000 - taken over three years - and a waiver of water and sewer fees worth $11,000.

Huntley officials expect the store to generate about $7.5 million in sales annually, with $75,000 going to the village in the form of sales-tax revenue.

If Crossroads does not start construction by Oct. 15 or open the store by July 1, its agreement with the village is null and void, village officials said about the proposed project.