‘Mount Prospect is on fire’: Mayor delivers annual address to business community
Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoefert delivered his State of the Village address Thursday, radiating optimism about the present and the future.
“Mount Prospect is on fire. Everywhere you look, things are happening,” he said.
Hoefert highlighted accomplishments in everything from economic growth to finances to public safety at the breakfast presented by the village’s Economic Development Commission at the Old Orchard Country Club.
“Our sales tax revenues are off the charts and they are continuing to grow,” he told the audience, with the village generating $125,000 per day on average in sales tax.
The village, he said, is the third largest sales tax generator in the state.
The downtown’s Prospect and Main Tax Increment Financing District, he said, has generated 700 new housing units, collected about $18.4 million in new property tax revenue and declared a $2.9 million surplus.
He said the TIF district in southern Mount Prospect is helping spur such development as the Cloud HQ data center and a new building for the DiMeo Brothers plumbing contracting building.
On the north side, Hoefert said Randhurst Village is 91% leased, while the Kensington Business Center’s vacancy rate is only 5%. He added the former Holiday Inn on Rand Road is about to be rehabbed.
Hoefert recognized downtown development, including the new CoCo & Maple restaurant, an expansion of Mia’s Cantina restaurant, the filling of the former Patina Wine Bar spot with Deba Sushi and a new restaurant coming into a new building at 100 E. Emerson St. He also noted the village’s purchase of the old Chase Bank building at 111 E. Busse Ave.
In the area of public safety, he said the police department is establishing a traffic enforcement unit, with plans to expand it in 2027.
Hoefert noted the village installed a water main on Oakton Street, bringing water to an area that was on wells.
He also said the Northwest Water Commission has benefited from the village’s emergency water interconnection, built last year. It allowed the village to provide water to Arlington Heights, Palatine, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling during a freeze of the water intake in Evanston at the end of January.
Hoefert looked to the future, saying, “If you’re standing still, you’re sliding backward. I won’t let that happen under my watch.”
One initiative he plans to put forward is an economic development loan fund, providing supplemental loans to creditworthy borrowers.
“Please understand this is not a giveaway, but rather a village loan fund,” he said. “It will create local jobs, and it will help promote ongoing vitality in our village.”