Palatine council approves plan for 8th new car dealership in town
It's official - Palatine will be welcoming its eighth new car dealership next year, provided construction takes place on schedule.
The village council on Monday night gave its OK to amending the Napleton planned development on Rand Road - which already includes Napleton Mazda and Napleton Subaru - to accommodate a new Volkswagen dealership that will be moving to Palatine from Mount Prospect.
The new dealership will be housed in a new 16,000-square-foot building on a 3.2-acre site at 1979 N. Rand Road.
The dealership plans to employ 35 people and will have a showroom along Rand Road and a service and parts department in the rear. Its hours will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
"We are pleased to add another high-quality new car dealership to the Rand Road corridor," Village Manager Reid Ottesen said Monday.
The Mazda and Subaru dealerships opened last year, and a third dealership was always planned as part of the Napleton development.
The plan commission recommended approval of the plan for the Volkswagen dealership at its meeting June 15.
The Palatine site is currently home to seasonal operations for Knupper's Flower & Garden, whose season ends June 30. The 90-year-old business, bought by the Napleton family in 2018, hopes to move nearby on Rand Road, a business representative said earlier this month.
Volkswagen of Mount Prospect is operated by Weck Auto Group, or WAG, whose President Charles Weck said he worked for more than three decades as chief operating officer for Steve Napleton, who owns several dealerships including in Palatine.
Weck told the council he's "excited" to move the Volkswagen dealership to Palatine.
The village council on Monday authorized Ottesen to execute a redevelopment agreement for the property with the developer. Under the agreement, the project must be completed by Dec. 31, 2022, and the village will use no more than $1 million in tax-increment financing funds to reimburse the developer for eligible expenses.
Council members also approved a resolution in support of the developer applying for 7c tax classification in Cook County. Normally, the property would be assessed at 25% of its market value. With 7c tax classification, the property would be assessed at 10% of its market value for the first three years, 15% for the fourth year, and 20% for the fifth year.
Weck said earlier this month that, if all goes smoothly, he hopes to break ground in Palatine before the end of the year.