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Hoffman Estates being wooed for another manufacturing HQ

Hoffman Estates village board members Monday will grant a courtesy review to yet another proposed manufacturing headquarters within easy access of the improved tollway interchange at Barrington Road.

The proposal pitched by a representative of the undisclosed business is for a 201,680-square-foot office and manufacturing building that would become the new North American headquarters for the company in the Fountain Crossings development on the east side of Barrington Road north of Lakewood Boulevard.

While even village officials don't yet know the name of the company, what is known is that it's publicly traded, has operated for more than 200 years and has a presence in more than 30 countries.

The 15-acre site is just east of the existing Fountain Crossings retail center and north of the vacant lot long held by Meijer.

The proposal has been presented to the village by Chicago-based CA Industrial LLC, the prospective contract purchaser of the land, acting on behalf of the company that wants to lease and use the property.

Peter Gugliotta, Hoffman Estates' director of planning, building and code enforcement, said it's not unusual for a prominent company looking for a new site to stay anonymous until it's settled on one.

And like many other manufacturing businesses hoping to locate in Cook County, this company is claiming that a Class 6B tax incentive from the county is necessary to make the project financially viable.

Such an incentive effectively cuts property taxes in half for a decade before they gradually rise to the normal level during the 11th and 12th years.

Even with a Class 6B, the additional property tax revenue the company would be expected to generate over its 15-year lease is $8.8 million. Due to an existing agricultural exemption, the 15 acres currently generate only $845 in property tax per year.

Last month, the village board recommended Cook County's approval of a Class 6B incentive for a proposed four-building Hoffman Technology Park on 53 acres just east of the proposed new project along Lakewood Boulevard.

The proposed technology park, in turn, lies just north of the former AT&T office campus that Somerset Development plans to turn into a second Bell Works commercial and residential development like its original one in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Just west of Bell Works on Central Road, construction is continuing on a planned 163,000-square-foot headquarters for Bystronic Inc., which is moving from Elgin.

A technology center of German company Trumpf Inc. is another recent addition to the area just north of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway.

Gugliotta said it's difficult to weigh the strengths of all the influences on this wave of growth but that the recent improvements to the tollway, its Barrington Road interchange and the strong economy are probably high among them.

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