East Dundee trustees look for ways to spur Haeger, other redevelopment with tax incentives

With only a decade remaining on a property tax incentive program to help spur redevelopment in East Dundee's downtown district, village trustees are wondering if another one is needed to breathe new life into the Haeger Pottery property and other parcels.

Trustees are turning to Chicago firm Johnson Research Group for guidance on making the most of what's left on an existing tax increment financing district and whether a new, smaller TIF within the existing district should be created for the shuttered Haeger Pottery building and other properties in the downtown area south of Route 72.

The study, tagged to cost $41,500, will be paid through existing TIF funds and includes the cost of creating a new TIF if the village board opts to do so, Village President Jeff Lynam said.

A TIF district freezes property taxes paid to local governments at their current level for 23 years. Typically, as redevelopment takes place, land values increase, bringing additional property taxes. Any taxes collected above the base level from within the TIF district go into a special fund to help the village pay for redevelopment costs.

East Dundee's downtown TIF district, created in 2008, helped lure new restaurants, such as DC Cobb's and Black & Gray Brewing Co. Existing businesses, including Van's Frozen Custard and Made to Measure, used TIF funds to improve their properties, officials said.

"While there is much work to be proud of, there is still much work left to do," Village Administrator Erika Storlie wrote in a memo to trustees.

In her memo, Storlie wrote that feedback from developers has indicated there is not enough time left in the existing TIF to recoup the expenses associated with redeveloping a property such as the Haeger Pottery site, which includes a 143,000-square-foot factory. Haeger Pottery closed its operations at 7 Maiden Lane in 2016 - 145 years after it opened.

The Haeger Pottery site and D'Angelo Natural Springs property, also in the downtown area south of Route 72, were included in the original TIF. But they were not the focus because both businesses were still operating in 2008, officials said.

Today, the two properties are among the last remaining opportunities for major development in the downtown district.

"This site is going to be a huge catalyst for the future of the community," Trustee Kathleen Mahony said of the Haeger property.

One way to help redevelop the properties, Storlie said, would be to create a smaller TIF that includes the Haeger Pottery property and other undeveloped properties.

Currently, there are no plans to redevelop the Haeger property. But village officials have discussed the possibility of a mixed-use development that could include housing, a park along the riverfront and some retail.