West Side Tractor seeking approval to move headquarters to Lisle
Lisle trustees are poised to vote this month on a proposal to transform a shuttered car dealership into the future home of West Side Tractor Sales Co.
West Side wants to buy the former automobile dealership at 3300 and 3400 Ogden Ave. - and an adjacent parcel to the north - to build a new headquarters, dealership and service center. The roughly $15 million investment would rejuvenate a location that hasn't had a new-car dealership in nearly a decade.
But before the site can be redeveloped, the village must approve the plan.
On Monday night, trustees directed staff members to draft an ordinance authorizing a list of requests, including a major change to the planned unit development for the former dealership and a special use permit.
The village board also agreed to draft a proposed sales tax revenue sharing agreement. If approved, the deal would allow West Side to receive up to $1.4 million of the sales tax revenue the Lisle location generates during its first 20 years.
Trustees are expected to vote Feb. 18 on the ordinance and the revenue sharing agreement.
Since West Side started in 1962, the company has grown to 10 locations in Illinois, Indiana and southern Michigan. Its existing headquarters is in Naperville.
If the redevelopment project is approved, West Site will use the new Lisle location to grow its operation.
Extensive improvements are planned for the existing building at 3300 Ogden Ave. The repurposed building would have 62,000 square feet and include West Side's corporate headquarters, dealership showroom and 13 service bays.
To offset the cost of the project, West Side is seeking up to $1.4 million in financial assistance through a proposed revenue sharing agreement.
As part of the deal, Lisle each year would keep the first $100,000 of the local sales tax dollars generated by the business.
Anything more than $100,000 would be split by West Side, which would get 70 percent, and the village, which would get 30 percent.
"This is not an incentive to move here," Russ Whitaker, an attorney for West Side, told Lisle trustees on Monday night. "This is an incentive to grow here."
The pact would end in 20 years or once West Side has received $1.4 million.
There was some talk of offering West Side a property tax abatement instead of the sales tax revenue, but there wasn't enough time to fully explore that idea.
The company needs to have the incentive package in place this month, Whitaker said.
Trustee Anthony Carballo said the proposed sales tax revenue sharing agreement is a no-brainer. "It's a win-win for the village and for the business as well," he said.