Tinley Park officials hope that establishing an entertainment district anchored by two regional destinations will attract further tourism-oriented development to an area of the village that has been lagging in business growth.
The proposed district would cover nearly 630 acres, including the Tinley Park Convention Center to the north and the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre to the south. Housing and light-industrial property within the borders would be unaffected.
Village Planning Director Amy Connolly outlined plans for the Rich Township Entertainment District at Thursday night’s Plan Commission meeting — citing the additional presence of a hotel, an amusement center and a country club and golf course already within the proposed borders of 183rd Street to the north, Harlem Avenue to the west, Vollmer Road to the south and Ridgeland Avenue to the east.
The proposed district would not offer additional tax incentives to developers beyond the existing ones, which village officials view as substantial. But it would place restrictions on the types of businesses allowed there — targeting ones complementary to tourism such as antique stores, microbreweries, restaurants and day spas, according to the village.
The Plan Commission has scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7 at the village hall on the proposed entertainment district and proposed clarifications of the village’s sign ordinance.
Ivan Baker, Tinley Park’s economic development director, said Friday that the current tourism-oriented businesses in that area provide “very unique advantages” because “there’s no other location like that in the entire south and southwest metro area.”
As an element in the entertainment district plan, the district would be promoted on a large sign along eastbound Interstate 80 between Harlem and Oak Park avenues.
The existing multi-panel sign there, mounted on 70-foot-tall poles, promoted First Midwest Bank’s six-year sponsorship of the 23,000-seat outdoor music theater that ended this year, with Hollywood Casino taking over as sponsor.
Connolly said that the privately owned sign could be replaced with a slightly larger, electronic sign promoting the entertainment district and its businesses, helping to spur interest not only in existing businesses but also in developing the approximately 130 acres that remain vacant.
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“We’re seeing growth in every other part of our community,” she said. “We’re not seeing growth here.”
High property tax rates account for much of the problem. Rich Township has some of the highest tax rates in the Chicago area, and its southern and western boundaries are adjacent to Will County, which offers a significantly lower tax rate.
Tinley Park’s current tax incentives within the proposed district and its existing tourism attractions offset the higher property tax rate to some degree, according to village officials.
Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter.