Elmwood Park is taking steps to boost economic development at North Avenue and Harlem Avenue intersection.
At the Dec. 15 Elmwood Park Village Board meeting, the board received an update on the formation of a tax increment financing district at the northwest corner of Harlem and North Avenues.
Money from a TIF district is carved out of property taxes in the area, and goes to pay for infrastructure improvements in hopes of attracting economic development.
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The boundaries of the North and Harlem TIF District would be about a square block: going along North Avenue to 72nd Court, north to Wabansia Avenue, east to Harlem Avenue and back south to North Avenue.
Along with the strip of businesses that make up North Tower Plaza, the TIF district includes a newly built First Merit Bank and a Walgreens, which will demolished and rebuilt next to the bank.
Elmwood Park Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano has often said publicly that area of the village has a lot of economic development potential. He said a Mariano’s grocery store potentially being built across Harlem, on the Chicago side of the intersection, would draw a lot revenue and economic development to the area.
Elmwood Park Village Manager Paul Volpe said creating the North and Harlem TIF was a way to be ready when that economic potential eventually reveals itself.
“The TIF is just a planning tool,” he said. “We want to have a TIF in place to take advantage of this. Down the road, having a TIF in place is another tool for broader development.”
TIF districts limit the tax base that schools draw from, which has created controversies in other towns. But Kevin Anderson, superintendent of Elmwood Park School District 401, said they have no problems with the village setting up the TIF district.
“We looked into this,” he said. “There’s no housing in that area and the impact for us will be zero. It’s fine with us.”
Volpe said a public hearing on the TIF district is scheduled for Feb. 2. After that, several ordinances will have to be approved by the Village Board regarding the formation of North and Harlem TIF which he says will probably take place at a board meeting no later than March.
He said he’s excited to see what will take place economically at that intersection in the future.
“It’s a very valuable corner, partly because it borders River Forest and Chicago,” he said. “A number of businesses will find that very attractive and we want to be ready to capture that.”