Winfield lifting curtain on redevelopment talks with Central DuPage Hospital

Unable to finalize a deal with Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital to bring downtown redevelopment to the village, Winfield has taken the extraordinary step of making its negotiations with the hospital public.

After two years of talks, Winfield and CDH last November seemed to agree on plans to turn a section of Town Center south of the hospital campus into a medical and commercial district. To the west of the 392-bed hospital, a parking deck would alleviate parking problems at CDH. Village hall would be torn down and moved to free space for more development near the Metra station.

But negotiations broke down last January when CDH, which is tax-exempt, told the village it wants to remove a large portion of the development from the tax rolls in 25 years. At the time, village leaders said hospital officials previously agreed to have all off-campus construction and the parking deck subject to property taxes.

While the negotiations resumed in June, Village President Erik Spande has released a letter to residents saying that Northwestern Medicine has issued an "ultimatum" that the village accept its terms. He said those terms have "negative surprises," including reducing the time properties are on the tax rolls from 25 years to 20 years.

Complicating matters further is that a yearly $900,000 grant from CDH is set to expire in 2021. CDH awards the grant to compensate Winfield for the services it provides to the tax-exempt institution. But it's yet to be determined whether the deal will be renewed.

"The village's position is simple," Spande wrote in his letter to residents. "Continue the grant at the current level of $900,000 per year and add a cost of living index so its value keeps up with inflation."

According to Spande, Northwestern Medicine wants to reduce the grant amount by about 45%.

On Friday, Northwestern Medicine released a written statement reacting to Spande's letter to the community. It said the letter dated Dec. 13 is "disappointing in that it does not accurately or fully reflect our ongoing discussions."

"Nevertheless, we remain engaged and optimistic that we will reach an agreement," the statement reads. "We look forward to the opportunity to share Northwestern Medicine's proposal."

Now Spande says he no longer wants the village board to talk about ongoing negotiations with Northwestern Medicine in closed session.

"We've had this discussion too long in executive session," Spande said on Thursday. "A full public discussion is long overdue."

Winfield trustees are divided on the specifics of what the village should demand from CDH. But they agreed with Spande during Thursday night's board meeting that discussions about the negotiations should be public.

Spande then took it a step further by suggesting that negotiation sessions with Northwestern Medicine be in the open. He said the public should have the ability to see who is saying what.

Trustee James McCurdy, meanwhile, said the village should host a town hall meeting where residents can share their views.

"This is a decision we're making for them," McCurdy said. "Unless we bring them into this whole thing and let them see what's going on and listen to what they have to say, it's behind closed doors."

The board is expected to have a Jan. 16 discussion to determine where each trustee stands on various issues.

One issue that needs to be decided is whether the village is willing to purchase an existing office building from CDH and convert it into a village hall and police station. But village officials say that buying and retrofitting the three-story building on the south side of Jewell Road could cost as much as constructing a new but modest village hall.

Either way, money for the village hall project would come from revenue generated by a tax increment financing district set to expire in 2028. In a TIF district, property taxes above a certain point are funneled into development rather than to local governments.