St. Charles set to vote on incentive to land Audi dealership
St. Charles moved a key step closer to bringing an Audi dealership to a vacant lot on Randall Road.
In Tuesday's government operations committee meeting, the St. Charles aldermen unanimously approved a $2.6 million sales tax sharing incentive for Semersky Enterprises, which owns the Audi Exchange and Porsche Exchange in Highland Park and the Chevrolet Exchange in Lake Bluff, to build an Audi dealership and service center on a 3.38-acre site at 235 North Randall Road.
The incentive proposal now advances to a final vote by the city council at its Sept. 21 meeting, according to St. Charles Community and Economic Development Director Rita Tungare. If approved, Tungare said, construction is set to begin this fall.
"We've known about this for the last three or four years," she said. "This property and some of the surrounding properties had been purchased by Semersky Enterprises, so it was anticipated that an Audi dealership would join the other dealerships in St. Charles at some point in time. They were ready to move forward this summer and fall."
The incentive will be paid through a shared sales tax agreement in which the dealership will be rebated 75% of the sales tax it generates, and the city will receive the other 25%. The incentive is capped at a little more than $2.6 million over a maximum term of 15 years.
More than $2 million of that money will be used to extend Woodward Drive, and improve traffic signals and storm sewer infrastructure at the intersection of Randall Road and Woodward Drive. The rest will be used to remediate unsuitable soil and for electrical infrastructure.
Tungare said St. Charles has successfully used sales tax sharing in other incentive agreements.
The project would also trigger a condition in the intergovernmental agreement between Kane County and St. Charles in which the city will contribute $1.47 million to the county for off-site Randall Road improvements. The payment would be made in three installments of $490,000, and repaid to the city if the dealership closes or relocates outside of St. Charles.
Tungare said the goal is for the city's 25% share of the sales tax to account for the $1.47 million. She said the location, which is next to the Mercedes-Benz dealership just north of Route 64, should become a destination spot for luxury car shoppers.
"We hoping a nameplate like Audi will bring people to St. Charles and bring other businesses to St. Charles as well," she said.