Naperville council poised to approve limited tax incentive for Route 59 shopping center redevelopment

After several failed votes and a tenuous compromise, the Naperville City Council appears poised to grant a tax incentive to the owner of a Route 59 shopping center for redevelopment purposes.

Council members on Tuesday initially rejected the business district proposed by representatives from Brixmor Property Group, which owns the Westridge Court and Heritage Square shopping centers along Route 59 between West Jefferson and Aurora avenues.

But the council eventually voted 6-3 to prepare ordinances limiting the incentive to just Heritage Square.

Under terms of the incentive, a 1% sales tax would be applied to businesses in Heritage Square until $13.4 million is raised for the area, which must be deemed blighted. Brixmor would have 23 years to collect the $13.4 million.

The plan also calls for Brixmor to contribute $200,000 for a stop light near Portillo's and Target on Jefferson Avenue. Those businesses would be asked to provide the remainder of the cost.

Officials from Brixmor, who said the company will contribute $53 million toward redevelopment, estimate it would take 16 years to collect the $13.4 million. That money would go toward demolition, infrastructure and other upgrades.

Multiple motions failed before the compromise, which still saw "no" votes from Jennifer Bruzan-Taylor, Ian Holzhauer and Theresa Sullivan. Some council members wanted the original proposal that included Westridge Court to the north. Others wanted the scope limited to just the corner of Route 59 and Aurora Avenue.

"To not embrace this, to me, it's just being very, very shortsighted," Mayor Steve Chirico said. "We have always been able to invest in these business districts to support our schools, support our parks, support our own budget."

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley spoke at Tuesday's meeting in support of the incentive. A boost in that area's tax base, Talley said, could equate to $300,000 a year in property tax money for the district without an increase to the student population.

Brixmor representatives said including Westridge Court would reduce the collection time of the $13.4 million to 10 years. Several council members pushed back because that shopping center has higher occupancy rates than Heritage Square and recently received site upgrades. Officials said the combined occupancy rate of the shopping centers has dipped to 57%.

"I can get over the hump to call the corner and the southeast portion blighted," Councilman Patrick Kelly said. "It's basically impossible for me to say with a straight face that the northern portion ... (is) blighted when you just recently put $4 million into improving those properties."

Because the boundaries of the business district changed, the city council must schedule a public hearing on Feb. 7 and hold the hearing on Feb. 21 before voting on ordinances for the 1% tax scheduled to take effect in July.