Bensenville Village President John Geils officially presented the Bensenville 2001 economic development plan Tuesday to a room filled with developers and past and current village officials.
The $43 million program, funded by private investment and tax increment financing district bonds, is a collection of new and continuing projects that foresees the production of five new businesses, three residential subdivisions and four major expansions of existing businesses in the next year or two.
That does not include the proposed conversion of the sites of four elementary schools into residential neighborhoods, a $20.7 million plan on which School District 2 and the Village Board have not yet voted.
Geils said the willingness of so many companies to build in Bensenville indicates the village is shedding its image as “the poor sister of the suburbs surrounding O’Hare airport.”
“These people have stuck their necks out and are risking their money to make things better for the community,” he said. “Obviously, they believe in Bensenville. All our efforts of the last 15 years are succeeding.”
Geils, head of the village’s Unity Party, is facing a re-election challenge from attorney Frank Soto.
Frank Caira, one of the few residents at the presentation, applauded the nature of the developments and the prospect of additional sources of property and sales tax revenues.
“These projects will be good for the community because they’re nice and green. There are no high-pollution industries,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of new development for no new taxes that will generate new revenue and keep residents’ taxes down in the future.”
The biggest single investment in Bensenville 2001 will come from the Dominick’s supermarket chain, which plans to spend $14 million to convert its Brentwood Commons store into a Dominick’s Fresh Store. Safeway Inc., Dominick’s parent, also has signed a letter of intent to help fund a facade-restoration project for the entire shopping center, Geils said.
“It’s great that Dominick’s is expanding and revitalizing the entire Brentwood Commons area,” said resident Tom Wronkiewicz. “Dominick’s doubled the size of the old A&P store when it took it over in the early ’70s. This should make the same impact that it did back then.”
Village and project officials expect the greatest long-term benefit to come from Chicago-based U.S. Cellular Corp.’s plan to establish a high-tech industry corridor along north Illinois Highway 83 in the Bensenville Industrial Park. U.S. Cellular plans to invest $3 million to remodel aging buildings at Illinois 83 and Tower Lane.
Officials hope that fiber-optic cables already beneath Illinois 83 will help attract more high-technology, electronics-oriented firms there, bringing high sales tax revenues and hundreds of skilled jobs.
Other projects in the plan include building a hotel and golf course on the closed Sexton landfill site at Grand Avenue and County Line Road, and building an Osco drug store on the current Village Hall site, at Church and Irving Park Roads. A new village hall would be built at Green and Center Streets.
Other projects include expanding Asti Deli, Bensenville Motors and Main Street True Value; building the O’Hare Cargo Center warehouse complex; and completing Heritage Square, Redmond Cove and Creekside of Brentwood residential subdivisions.
