Prospect Hts. agrees to share tax with Ultra Foods

The Prospect Heights City Council Monday approved a sales tax-sharing agreement to help bring an Ultra Foods Store to a long-vacant former Dominick's site.

William Nazha, an owner of the Prospect Crossing shopping center, said outside the meeting that the lease with SVT, the owner of Ultra, will be signed soon, and the grocery store should open next summer.

Nazha told the council the shopping center on the 1200 block of Rand Road on the Arlington Heights border is “almost full up” since the Ultra announcement last month.

The 87,000-square-foot grocery store represents half the shopping center, he said.

The agreement the council approved Monday would return to the company an average of 50 percent of the sales tax that goes to the city over a period of 15 years, Mayor Nick Helmer said previously.

The city and the store each stand to get $2.9 million during that time, he said. The store will get 80 percent of the 1 percent sales tax the first year, and the advantage will shift toward the city over the life of the agreement.

Helmer said city officials have been talking with Ultra since March, and he is excited about the sales tax revenue. Ultra has 13 stores in the Chicago area, and the company plans to spend about $13 million repairing the building and setting up the store, Helmer said.

Nazha is also involved with the House of Music and Entertainment, a 25,000-square-foot building that will serve food and liquor and hold concerts in the same shopping center. The owners plan to open Nov. 2.

He asked the council to amend the H.O.M.E. liquor license so 16 ounces of a carryout craft beer could be given monthly to people who join a special club.

Ward 3 Alderman Scott Williamson of the 3rd ward said he opposed letting alcohol leave the bar, especially at 3 or 4 a.m. Ward 4 Alderman Patrick Ludvigsen agreed the restaurant, bar and concert center should operate under the rules of its current liquor license for a while before it is amended. The current license allows no liquor carryout, Nazha said.

Nazha also said Kiddie Academy, which has six sites in the suburbs, wants to open a day care center in the shopping center. Some aldermen expressed concern about the day care center coexisting with other shopping center traffic. The plans will go to the city's zoning board.