Des Plaines City Council supports tax break for $10.5 million industrial development

A $10.5 million industrial building that could be used as a warehouse or factory has been proposed for vacant land on Des Plaines’ southeast side.

But first the would-be developer wants to get a multimillion-dollar tax break from Cook County officials.

A Lincolnwood company called Grossprops Associates intends to construct a 171,600-square-foot building at 424 Howard Ave. That’s on the north side of Howard Avenue, between Mount Prospect and Wolf roads.

The 10-acre site, which is in the 5th Ward, once was home to the headquarters of Cloud Packing Equipment. That company was purchased by Downers Grove-based Duravant in 2020 and folded into Mespack US.

Grossprops Associates already has demolished the Cloud Packing Equipment building to make way for the building it envisions.

Once the building is constructed, Grossprops intends to lease it to one tenant, Des Plaines Economic Development Manager Suzy Aguilar told the city council Monday.

Grossprops is asking the Cook County Board to reduce the property’s assessment rate for 12 years as a financial incentive to redevelop the site. The city council needed to first support the request and it did so Monday, unanimously.

The maneuver, relatively common in Cook County, is designed to encourage development of vacant, abandoned or rundown properties.

The regular assessment rate for commercial property in Cook County is 25% of the fair market value. The proposed break would reduce the assessment rate to 10% for the first 10 years, to 15% for the 11th year and to 20% for the 12th year.

If approved, the incentive likely would cut the property's tax bills by about $6.6 million over the 12-year period.

Fifth Ward Alderman Thomas Merlin spoke in favor of the tax break before the vote.

“It’s not doing anything sitting there vacant,” Merlin said. “If they’re going to redevelop the entire property … I’m all for it.”