Judson University will receive $485,000 in tax increment financing from the city of Elgin to help fund its plans to convert the former downtown PNC Bank building into living and learning space for its graduate architecture program.
The Elgin City Council unanimously approved the money at its meeting this past week to assist the $2.5 million project, which calls for the renovation of a building that’s been vacant since 2017. It also signed off on design plans for 13 dorm rooms and 2,100 square feet of studio and classroom.
This will be the first Judson building to be located somewhere other than the school’s main Elgin campus off Route 31, not including the building that serves as its Rockford campus.
Judson’s World Leaders Forum Inc. purchased the 20,860-square-foot property in 2019. Located on the southwest corner of East Highland and North Grove avenues, with frontage along Riverside Drive to the west, the building has been vacant since 2017 and dates back to 1960, city planners said.
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, funding can be used to provide incentives for businesses making improvements to downtown properties or for public improvements, like the recently renovated Civic Center Plaza.
Councilman Toby Shaw, a Judson alum, said he struggled with the plan to give TIF money to a privately-owned, nonprofit school.
“Typically, we think of TIF dollars improving a public space or going toward a taxpaying body,” he said. “We have to be transparent with ourselves. Judson is a nonprofit not paying property taxes.”
However, there’s also the fact that the renovated building will help bolster the downtown economy because people will be living and working there, Shaw said. It’s also improving what has become a blighted property, he said.
“I will be supporting it, (but) it is not without some reservations,” Shaw said. “I’m happy Judson is moving forward with the project. I think it’s a good investment in our downtown.”
Judson officials estimate the university adds about $65 million to the city’s economy annually. The new dorm and classroom space will bring students downtown and help boost sales at local restaurants and businesses, they said.
“This isn’t ideal in a TIF district,” Councilman Dustin Good said. “However, this project coming together is a series of unique pieces that will serve our downtown well.”
Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger said she was enthusiastic about the project.
“I welcome Judson to our downtown,” she said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
