Developer withdraws request for Hoffman Estates tax incentive

A developer has withdrawn his request for a tax incentive for a proposed 184-acre development in western Hoffman Estates that particularly drew the ire of Barrington Unit District 220 and Community Unit District 300.

Anthony Iatarola, manager of the development partnership 5a7 LLC, clarified that while the request for a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the 184 acres at the northwest corner of routes 59 and 72 was withdrawn Wednesday, proceedings for a mixed commercial and residential development there are continuing.

"Obviously, the school districts are vehemently opposed to it," Iatarola said of the request for a $21 million tax reimbursement over the course of 23 years. "Having them on board and positive about it would have been great."

Though the original request for a TIF district is no more, Iatarola said he couldn't comment on whether a new or revised one could follow in the future.

He maintained his prior stance that some financial incentive was necessary to overcome the development hurdles on the land his family had partly owned since 1959. These challenges include wetlands, buried construction debris and a natural gas pipeline running through the site.

"Financing is critical to any project," he said.

District 220 board President Brian Battle said that while the tax incentive would have hurt both school districts' ability to educate the additional students that would come, so too would the proposed density of the project that's still being pursued.

Battle said he plans to continue objecting to the development and the zoning it's seeking on that basis.

District 300 Superintendent Fred Heid added that both districts' consultant had already determined there was no legal justification for a TIF district given that the land has been farmed recently and hasn't been truly vacant for the required five years.

Like Battle, he said the TIF district was just one aspect of the school districts' concerns, but that density and lack of space for a new school were others. Nevertheless, he said District 300 is not adopting an anti-development stance.

"Eliminating the TIF does provide some financial protections," Heid said. "That property is going to be developed. It's not an issue of if but when."

Following Wednesday night's planning and zoning commission hearing on the project, a public hearing and vote on the annexation of the property is scheduled for the Hoffman Estates village board meeting of Monday, April 17.