The owner of an Elk Grove-based manufacturing company would like to expand into Des Plaines, using a long-vacant building near O’Hare International Airport.
The Des Plaines City Council voted 6-0 to recommend approval of a reduced-tax application for the roughly 64,000-square-foot site at 520 Santa Rosa Drive. If the application is approved by the county, Steven Clingan, president of Clingan Steel Inc., plans to purchase the property, which includes a nearly 40,000-square-foot building, and spend approximately $585,000 for improvements over the next five years, according to a memo written by city staff.
Under the tax incentive, property is assessed at 10 percent of market value for 10 years, 15 percent in the 11th year and 20 percent in the 12th year. Commercial properties are normally assessed at 25 percent of market value. Approval of such an application requires consent from the municipality where the property is located.
The property, which has been vacant since at least January 2009, is expected to generate thousands more in taxes than what the city currently receives, said Lauren Pruss, economic development coordinator, during the recent meeting. The memo said the city receives about $39,000 in property taxes now, but that would rise to $99,000 a year with the expected improvements while the incentive is in place and about $247,000 after it expires.
Pruss said Clingan would not move forward with the purchase unless the application was approved.
Fourth Ward Alderman Dick Sayad expressed support, saying the city would “right off the bat” receive more tax dollars from the site and that the amount after the incentive is “a reward at the end of the rainbow.”
Aldermen were impressed when Pruss said it Clingan intends to give priority to qualified workers from Des Plaines when hiring. He said he plans to hire five to six workers initially and then expand over time. Eighty-five employees work out of the company’s Elk Grove headquarters, he said.
The business, which Clingan runs with his three sons, David, Doug and Rob, was founded in 1992, he said. Though most operations have been consolidated in Elk Grove, Clingan Steel also operates facilities in Columbus, Ind., and North Jackson, Ohio, according to city documents.
The business’ primary focus is fashioning smaller, customized steel products from large steel coils.
“We do an infinite number of things to steel to make it usable to manufacturers down stream,” Clingan said, adding that production could be ramped up with additional space.
“We bought our current building (in Elk Grove) 11 years ago and we just need more space,” he said.
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As soon as the tax status is approved, Clingan said he plans to close on the property, begin operating out the facility and make “improvements on the building and the land as we go.”
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter.
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