The City Council voted to refund up to $750,000 to a development group if the town chooses another builder for a $50 million downtown redevelopment project.
Last summer, the council agreed to negotiate a deal with Tucker Development Corp. and Joseph Freed & Associates for a retail and condominium project on nine downtown acres bounded by Miner, Perry, Lee and Pearson Streets.
Guaranteeing to repay up to $750,000 for preliminary architectural plans, traffic studies and other work proposed by the Palatine-based partnership “allows us to entice the developers to start the work” and protects Tucker-Freed if Des Plaines later chooses another developer, said Acting City Manager William Schneider Jr.
Schneider said the city hopes to reach a more detailed development deal with Tucker-Freed in April.
Des Plaines will require any developer to find a 25,000-square-foot supermarket to anchor the project, Schneider said. Tucker-Freed has yet to do so, Schneider said.
Ald. Carla Brookman, the only council member to vote against the guarantee, said Des Plaines already has agreed to spend $7 million for property acquisition and contribute $8.5 million for capital improvements at the site.
“We desperately need some shopping,” Ald. Patricia Beauvais said. “That’s what people call me to ask about.”
In other business, aldermen voted against doubling the city gasoline tax to 2 cents per gallon and a 25 percent increase in liquor license fees. Approval of the measures would have given the city $500,000 in additional annual income.
