Navistar to present 'dramatically different' proposal to Lisle

Navistar officials say a new and improved proposal to move their headquarters to Lisle will be unveiled next week.

Vice President and Chief Information Officer Don Sharp told the DuPage County Board Tuesday the plans to move from Warrenville to the former Alcatel-Lucent building at 2600 Warrenville Road in Lisle will be "dramatically different in a better way" than the ones initially submitted late last year.

The company is seeking Lisle's approval to create a special taxing district that will allow property taxes to be spent for infrastructure improvements at the site, alleviating Navistar's corporate burden.

Neighbors of the project still are fighting the proposal because of a planned diesel-engine testing facility they claim will create pollution and noise.

Navistar officials recently told the county the testing facility is no longer in their current plans, but Sharp said Tuesday the "research and development" component of the proposal is "critical to our business." He said that component will be smaller in the new plan.

Sharp also said the proposal being presented March 4 to Lisle will include 90 percent less fuel storage, "which means you should be more concerned about your local gas station than Navistar's world headquarters."

There is no hearing scheduled for the village's planning and zoning board to discuss the proposal yet.

Neighbors contend the proposed taxing district will create a larger property tax burden on homeowners over its 23-year span. And while Sharp said Navistar had nothing to do with Alcatel-Lucent's recent assessment appeal that likely will result in a $31 million devaluation of the $109 million property, neighbors contend e-mails between Lisle officials show Navistar knew about the appeal and endorsed it.

Navistar officials have said they plan to restore the property value to the $109 million mark when they take possession. Residents believe the tax appeal is being used as a scare tactic by Navistar to show what could happen to the municipal, library, parks and school district tax bases if the property isn't sold.

"If the property had been on the market for a year or two and hadn't moved that might mean something," said MaryLynn Zajdel, a neighbor of the site and member of Citizens for Healthy Development. "But this property was on the market for just two and a half months and had multiple interested buyers."

Sharp said Navistar's new plans for the property take into account the concerns officials have heard in recent months.

"We've scaled this project to first and foremost what makes sense for the business and more importantly what makes sense for the community," he said.