Evanston Now
The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m.
A packet with information on tonight’s agenda items is available online.
Meeting called to order at 6:22 p.m.
Eight members present. Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd) is absent. Mayor Daniel Biss chairs the meeting.
Public Hearing on Five Fifths TIF
Robert Rychlicki, of the city’s TIF consultants, Kane McKenna, introduces the presentation.
Paul Zalmezak, the city’s economic development manager, says last summer’s civil rights movement and the pandemic highlighted the needs of the Black community. Says the TIF can bring a new focus to economic development in that area.
Updated 4/13/2021 8:20 PM
Vernon Hills plans to pay $46.5 million in incentives to help bring about the redevelopment of the 1970s-era Hawthorn Mall, long considered the village s retail centerpiece.
That amount emerged after lengthy negotiations with mall owner Centennial Real Estate. The Dallas-based company is proceeding with a $252 million plan called Hawthorn 2.0 to reinvent the 1.3 million-square-foot center at Townline Road (Route 60) and Milwaukee Avenue (Route 21).
Village contributions are the meat of a pending redevelopment agreement, which details conditions, schedules and obligations of both parties. The bulk of the payments would come from a tax increment financing district fund that grows as the value of property increases.