Old Elk Grove firehouse to get new life as trucking firm's home
A shuttered Elk Grove Village firehouse nearly five decades old will get new life as a trucking company's consolidated headquarters.
TI Express Inc. will use the 9,000-square-foot former Fire Station 9 at 1655 Greenleaf Ave. for light assembly, maintenance, warehousing and distribution in connection with its container drayage business. Its parent company, CH Global Holding, bought the site from the village for $407,000 in April.
TI Express leases buildings in Bensenville for office space and Mount Prospect for its warehouse, but it plans to move all of its operations to Elk Grove, according to village documents. A dozen employees will work there, with plans for a total of 25 over the next three years.
Officials say the company plans to make between $60,000 and $90,000 in upgrades to the old fire station, which will include improving the facade, updating landscaping, adding signage and making interior modifications.
To help with rehab costs, the firm has applied for a Cook County Class 6B property tax incentive, which will allow the property to be assessed at lower levels for a dozen years: 10% of market value for the first decade, then 15% in the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year. Industrial property normally is assessed at 25%.
Without the tax break, the company would likely pay $27,000 in taxes, but with it, only $11,000.
As a municipal facility, the 33,750-square-foot site has been tax exempt for years.
The village board endorsed the company's Class 6B application to the county last week.
The village sold the property as it was consolidating operations with Fire Station 8 at 1000 Oakton St., which was closed then sold to the developers of the massive $1 billion Elk Grove Technology Park. Together, the Greenleaf and Oakton firehouses have combined operations within a new 21,000-square-foot fire station and training tower at 700 Fargo Ave.
Mayor Craig Johnson said there were initial plans to demolish the 48-year-old, single-engine Greenleaf firehouse, but realtors advised that the building was well-suited for a small company and its three bays ideal for truck repair.