The City Council has voted to refund up to $750,000 to a development group if the town chooses another builder for a $50 million downtown redevelopment project.
Last summer, the council agreed to negotiate a deal with Tucker Development Corp. and Joseph Freed & Associates for a retail and condominium project on nine downtown acres bounded by Miner, Perry, Lee and Pearson Streets.
Guaranteeing to repay up to $750,000 for preliminary architectural plans, traffic studies and other work proposed by the Palatine-based partnership “allows us to entice the developers to start the work” and protects Tucker-Freed if Des Plaines later chooses another developer, said Acting City Manager William Schneider Jr.
Schneider said the city hopes to reach a more detailed development deal with Tucker-Freed in April.
Des Plaines will require any developer to find a 25,000-square-foot supermarket to anchor the project, Schneider said. Tucker-Freed has yet to do so, Schneider said.
Ald. Carla Brookman, the only council member to vote against the guarantee, said Des Plaines already has agreed to spend $7 million for property acquisition and contribute $8.5 million for capital improvements at the site.