Council advances 318 Anderson redevelopment plan with sales-tax rebate and remediation aid

Geneva’s special committee advanced an economic incentive package to the full city council on May 20 for the adaptive reuse of 318 Anderson Boulevard, a long-underutilized brick building the city hopes to reactivate with retail and apartments.

Director of Economic Development Kathleen Timasheka presented the public–private proposal. The contract purchaser and proposed developer is Jim Russell of Kipling Group; a 10-year lease is pending for Village Peddler, a combined bike shop and café operated by a related operator. Timasheka said the property — an approximately 18,200-square-foot parcel in the DRSCM (residentially scaled commercial mixed-use) district — has been vacant or underused for more than a decade and requires environmental and electrical upgrades before reuse.

The developer’s estimated project budget is roughly $2.3 million. Staff recommended three elements of assistance: a historic-preservation/adaptive-reuse grant covering up to $15,000 of environmental remediation activities; completion of a portion of electrical upgrades estimated at about $32,090 (staff noted roughly half of the pole replacement cost would have been required regardless of the project and the city would accelerate the work); and a sales-tax rebate structured at up to 90% of the city’s 1% sales tax for up to 10 years to repay environmental and electric costs. Timasheka said the developer will carry the bulk of the project cost (an estimated 95% private to 5% public participation in the assistance package).

The presentation reviewed the property’s history (early 20th-century industrial uses including a sanitary-cup and candle company), existing interior and exterior conditions and the need for a Phase I/Phase II environmental remediation scope; Timasheka said initial remediation work and submissions to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) are estimated at about $60,000 for sampling, report preparation and application to achieve a No Further Remediation (NFR) letter if required. The Phase II work may identify small-scale excavation, soil replacement or vapor mitigation; the developer has accepted the environmental risk and costs beyond the initial remediation estimate as part of the project.

Discussion focused on parking adequacy, remediation specifics (including prior contiguous properties with removed underground tanks and a historic dry-cleaning use on a neighboring property), project timeline and expected unit mix. The developer said he planned an immediate start on remediation, demolition of non-conforming additions, and permit-driven work; he estimated an aggressive schedule and hopes to complete construction within about a year, driven by the tenant’s lease timeline. The committee voted to advance the draft economic incentive agreement to the city council meeting for final consideration.