Oak Lawn’s Patriot Station tax increment financing district soon could expand its footprint.
The Oak Lawn Village Board in January began the final steps to amend the redevelopment plan and project area for the Patriot Station TIF, near its 95th Street Metra station. The expansion would include properties fronting Cicero Avenue from the railroad right of way on the south to 91st Street on the north as well as properties fronting Cicero Avenue from the railroad right of way to 95th Street.
The purpose of the expansion is to accommodate certain “dilapidated and deteriorated” properties the village’s management team considers both economically obsolete and individually depressed in an effort to stoke economic development, according to a document filed by village finance director Brian Hannigan.
Village manager William Palmer said the aim is to “stabilize and encourage growth” of the TIF’s tax base to address vacancies and a lag in growth when compared to the rest of the village. The change is expected to have a positive impact, he said.
“The village has been working for more than three years to correct a TIF that has been plagued with problems and the ongoing pressures in the retail environment,” Palmer said. “The COVID pandemic added to the problem, so we hired an outside financial adviser to analyze the situation and provide the Village Board with options and recommendations.”
The village hired Teska Associates, a frequent collaborator, in January 2020 to work on the redevelopment plan for a fee of $17,500, to be paid out of the TIF’s funds. Teska’s role was to collect background data and offer analysis, as well as prepare an eligibility report on the redevelopment plan.
TIFs are designed to stoke development in specific areas by freezing property taxes at existing levels for all taxing bodies for a period of years, and then using any increase in taxes — the increment — for economic development. Over the years, Oak Lawn established TIFs in the downtown area in spaces defined as the triangle, the train station near 95th Street and a commuter parking lot.
But an economic recession led to property values below the original baseline, and the TIFs struggled to generate revenue. The Patriot Station TIF was established in 2017 to do what the others no longer could.
The Patriot Station TIF was designed to be anchored by medical facilities and to redevelop under used and vacant buildings and properties through assistance for private sector investments, according to village documents. The original boundaries include two major parcels connected by the rail line.
The first is north and south of 95th Street near 51st Avenue, including parts of the Metra parking lot, the tank memorial site and what was then David’s Bridal at 5020 W. 95th St. South of 95th Street, the TIF includes commercial property and a parking lot between 51st Avenue and 50th Court, as well as two lots behind that area.
The second cluster is south of 95th Street, defined as most of a parking lot bordered by Cook Avenue, Yourell Drive and 52nd Avenue, as well as space bordered by the rail line, 96th Street and Tulley Avenue. It includes roughly 17 acres.
The ultimate goals of the Patriot Station TIF are to expand the availability of parking and high-quality retail, residential and office space, and to stimulate additional development in surrounding areas. It was designed to have a 23-year life span, during which Oak Lawn has proposed improvements and expansions of existing properties and facade improvements.
It was estimated in a 2016 report that the Patriot Station TIF would see an incremental increase in tax dollars of $27.51 million over its life span. Through 2019, it generated $1.32 million, according to records from Cook County. The adjacent Train Station TIF brought in $5.02 million from 2003-2019, and the Commuter Parking Lot TIF generated $7.02 million in that same time span.
A Joint Review Board, made up of representatives from various taxing units including school districts, will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Village Hall to take public comment and provide a review of the proposed expansion. A public hearing will follow on March 24 at Village Hall. The board would then vote on the measure April 13.
The village also has a Cicero Avenue TIF north of 91st Street that was established in 2002. It generated $3.70 million through 2019, according to Cook County.
A TIF at 111th Street and Cicero Avenue faced similar problems to the 1990s downtown area TIFs, struggling to generate revenue after a decline in equalized assessed valuation after 2006. That recorded a total revenue of $1.31 million. The village addressed the lack of growth there by spawning the adjacent Cicero Gateway TIF in 2014, which has through 2019 generated $4.26 million in revenue.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
