Hoffman still hoping for new hotel, extends incentives
Hoffman Estates officials want to extend a tax-increment financing district by 12 years in hopes of luring a full-service hotel near Barrington and Higgins roads.
A bill that would grant that extension awaits Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signature.
The money could go toward building a $100 million, 300- to 350-room, full-service Wyndham Grand Hotel. Hoffman Estates Village Manager James Norris said an unnamed developer approached the village earlier this year with the proposal. The 22-acre TIF was established in 1986.
Democratic State Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates co-sponsored the bill.
"The hotel would bring 200 jobs," Crespo said. "It's good for the local economy, it's good for Hoffman Estates."
Crespo said he isn't sure what the governor will do, and hopes Blagojevich decides before the start of the January legislative session starts.
Village officials don't expect to see the property developed without the extension, but the proposal has renewed hope that a hotel would eventually be built by the proposed extended end of the TIF in 2021, Norris said. The hotel also would generate enough money for the village to pay the Barrington-Higgins TIF note, which covers the cost of improvements. The note's balance is $5.3 million and is rising with interest.
A TIF freezes property taxes that would go to school districts and other taxing bodies, with some of the taxes going instead back into the property for improvements. Without the extension, the TIF is set to expire next year.
The hotel could help the Stonegate Conference and Banquet Centre, the sole entity within the TIF whose taxes are being withheld. Linda Scheck, the village's tourism and business coordinator, said a hotel would attract more weddings. A bride wouldn't have to be bused from her hotel to the wedding hall.
"You have to cater to the desires of many brides in today's market," she said.
A hotel was once courted for the area as a complement to Stonegate when it was built in 2001. But hotel developers were put off by stormwater drainage issues that could have tripled the cost of construction. Those have since been resolved.
The new Sears Centre arena would also benefit, Scheck said, because celebrity performers would be more inclined to play the arena if another full-service hotel was in the area. The village would also need additional hotel rooms to lure athletes in the event Chicago wins the bid for the 2016 Summer Games.
Given the current economic climate, village officials aren't sure if the hotel plans will come to fruition, but say the their entertainment district, which includes Sears Centre and Cabela's, makes development more attractive. If the TIF money isn't used for a hotel or other redevelopment, it would eventually have to be paid out to the affected taxing bodies.
Officials from the two school districts in the TIF - Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 - say they're not opposed to a TIF extension and won't be affected. During budget time, they don't count on potential money that could be released once the TIF expires.