Round Lake ready to move once the downturn ends

As part of an ongoing project, the Daily Herald asked local business and village leaders about what kind of economic development projects were on the way in their communities. Here are the answers from Round Lake Village Manager Marc Huber.

Q. How do you go about supporting business development in your community?

A. Provide property owners and developers with timely response to complete their proposed projects; communicate with businesses to determine their needs and address their concerns to improve the business climate; facilitate communications between buyers and sellers with staff assistance and the Economic Development Committee. Participate with Lake County Partners shovel-ready sites initiative (a program that provides real estate professionals with information about property that is development ready).

Q. What is in the planning stages?

A. The village completed a transit-oriented development plan for vacant property in the downtown immediately adjacent to the Metra station. The plan was distributed to developers, however, due to the economic downturn, there was no interest in the project. The plan will be assessed for potential changes to make the plan more marketable when the economic conditions will support development.

Q. What is your town's biggest economic development wish?

A. Increase retail and commercial development throughout town including a large retail grocer, office space and diverse restaurant base.

Q. What is your community's single greatest asset or selling point to potential developers?

A. The Round Lake area consists of 120,000 people, which is about 1/7 of the entire population of Lake County.

Q. Have the challenges presented by the current downturn forced you and your community to approach economic development differently? What are the changes and how well are they working?

A. The village has always been willing to work with developers and commercial enterprises to offer incentives for development in order to bring a good mix of land uses that provides for sustainable community and diverse economic base.