Elgin considers consolidating nonprofits in one building

The former administration building of the Elgin Mental Health Center is being considered for a shared office space for nonprofit agencies.

The 28,800-square-foot building, at 600 S. State St. (Route 31), has been vacant since 2014. The city of Elgin, which has been eyeing the property for development, received it for free from the state.

The city's proposed 2017 budget includes a $575,000 allocation for capital improvements within the special taxing district that encompasses the property. That includes $425,000 for renovations, such as updating fire alarms, carpeting and painting; roof repairs; making it comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act; and building out the spaces. A portion of that allocation - $150,000 - is earmarked for resurfacing a street that runs from the mental health complex to the Elgin Sports Complex.

Since the city no longer supports nonprofit agencies through grants from riverboat casino revenues and other funding, officials are offering up the building as a place where such organizations could consolidate operations to share overhead costs.

"The whole idea of this space is to have one centralized location that various agencies can move into at low rent," said Laura Valdez-Wilson, senior management analyst. "They have a hard time finding meeting space at low cost or no cost. This building is already set up in that way."

Tenants would not have to worry about security and could share administrative services, such as common reception and copy areas, a kitchen, meeting rooms and a multipurpose room with audiovisual equipment, as well as a centralized information technology system to efficiently serve their clients. The new IT system would be supported by software with appropriate firewalls to deal with federally mandated patient/client confidentiality, officials said.

Valdez-Wilson said the building is in pretty good shape and recently has been used by the police department for training purposes. It is along a Pace bus route and accessible to downtown.

She said city staff members have consulted with a number of social service agencies in the region that support the concept. There are at least 25 potential tenants, and the space can be designed differently to meet each agency's individual needs, she said.

With the city council's blessing, the city staff would spend 2017 getting design options and bids, securing tenants and figuring out rental agreements, and who will manage the building before it is ready for occupancy in 2018.

Council members agreed the concept is appealing and gave the green light Wednesday night to move forward.

"This is a great first step," Mayor David Kaptain said.

He added that Judson University in Elgin has reached out seeking internship opportunities for students enrolled in its human services degree program.

"There's a big opportunity here," said Councilman Richard Dunne, adding some people believe the city has abandoned social service agencies. "We have to make this sustainable for not only them but for the city."

Councilman Toby Shaw said he would like to see nonprofit agencies buy in to this idea and take the initiative themselves to see it through so the burden doesn't fall on the city alone.