Vernon Hills

Q. What signs of economic turnaround do you see in your community?A. A slight increase in sales tax in the past two months. Not a trend but some positive numbers for a short period. Also a slight increase in building permits and some increased inquiries from developers and landlords.Q. Please identify one project that is an example of that turnaround.A. The renovation of Hawthorn Fashion Square. Inquiries concerning vacant space such as Home Expo.Q. What type of new development will be most prevalent? Retail, residential, industrial, office or something else?A. Retail and residential. Renovation of existing retail space. Some increase in residential renovation permits. Office and industrial will take some time to recover.Q. How optimistic are you that vacant storefronts and office buildings will be filled during this turnaround? Why or why not?A. We are optimistic. Vernon Hills has a strong retail base with high quality vacant space that will be the first to be filled by perspective tenants. It will be a slow start but will increase as time moves forward.Q. What do you think local, state and/or national government leaders could do to enhance the recovery?A. The state needs to create a positive business environment to encourage job growth. This means regulation review and state budget controls. The village has provided one recent sales tax incentive at Hawthorn Fashion Square to encourage redevelopment.Q. Is there any pending legislation at those levels you particularly support? Any you oppose?A. There is no specific legislation at this time. Some areas to review would be workers' compensation.Q. Do you agree that this will be a jobless recovery or are the suburbs more or less immune to that?A. Initially it will be a jobless recovery. Unemployment is both deep and long term for many Lake County residents. However, once some of the uncertainty is mitigated, jobs will start to be created, particularly in the suburbs.Q. What is your town's biggest economic development wish? (i.e.: to fill a certain empty big box; to find a developer for a large vacant parcel; to create a town center, etc.)A. Rehabilitation and expansion of Westfield Hawthorn.Q. What is your community's single greatest asset or selling point to potential developers?A. The draw of more than 3 million square feet of retail that helps both competing and complimentary retail to thrive.Q. Have the challenges presented by the current downtown forced you and your community to approach economic development differently? What are the changes and how well are they working? A. As mentioned the sales tax rebate at Hawthorn Fashion Square was only the second rebate offered by the village. You can see the results today with the construction of Dick's Sporting Goods. We also have a request at another center that the village is currently considering. This is most likely the trend in the future.