Buffalo Grove strikes $1.1 million incentive deal with Fresh Farms developer

Buffalo Grove trustees this week paved the way for the redevelopment of the Cambridge Commons shopping center and a new Fresh Farms grocery store at Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads.

Trustees approved an economic incentive agreement with 14 Dundee RD LLC under which the village and developer would split the village’s share of the home-rule sales tax and the retailers occupation tax.

Under the 11-year agreement, the rebate would occur each year after a sales-tax threshold of $85,000 is reached by the grocery store. The total incentive would be capped at $1.1 million over an 11-year period.

The redevelopment calls for Fresh Farms to operate in the 30,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Rogan’s Shoes — a space that had been inhabited prior to that by Dominick’s. Rogan’s would relocate to a 10,000-square-foot location on the west end of the shopping center.

The total construction cost is estimated at between $16 million and $18 million.

The developer also could be reimbursed for building permit fees up to $20,000. However, that is still up for discussion in the wake of concerns raised by Trustee Steven Trilling.

Trilling objected to language that called for the reimbursement within 60 days after a building permit is issued. Instead, he wants that changed to within 60 days of a certificate of occupancy.

“He may apply for a building permit, he may get the building permit. We would reimburse the permit fee cost up to $20,000, but he may never start construction,” Trilling said.

Nick Vittore, a representative of developer Svigos Asset Management, said the company is willing to discuss that.

“This is obviously a new issue that has been brought up. We hadn’t really considered too terribly much,” he said. “I think that we would probably feel most comfortable to discuss this with staff at a later date. We are not opposed to some type of structure to make the board more comfortable.”