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EDC: Downers Grove recorded hundreds of jobs and tens of millions in private investment; hospital project cited
Summary
The Economic Development Corporation reported the village accounted for about 45 permitted projects in 2025 (≈$83 million in improvements), said late-2025 activity created or retained roughly 525 jobs and cited a regionally significant pediatric hospital prospect as part of a strong 2026 pipeline. Data are preliminary and partially estimated.
Brian Gay, speaking for the Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation, told the village council on March 10 that the EDC’s preliminary figures show a busy late 2025 and an even stronger start to 2026.
Gay said about six projects added near the end of 2025 contributed to roughly 525 jobs and consumed about 529,000 square feet of industrial, office and retail space, representing approximately $22.5 million in private investment. He also said the village has tracked roughly 45 permitted projects that together account for about $83 million in improvements. Gay emphasized several figures are estimates and that the EDC expects to confirm final numbers when its full 2025 KPI analysis is issued in the following weeks: “This right now is about an estimated … and we’ll spend the next couple of weeks of confirming this data,” he said.
Looking toward 2026, Gay said the EDC is tracking projects that he estimated would create or retain about 650 jobs, occupy about 390,000 square feet, and account for roughly $215 million in private investment. He singled out a proposed pediatric hospital as regionally significant and thanked village staff and leadership for coordination: the project, he said, was an 11-month prospect that required zoning and permitting work and would include community outreach such as an open house.
The EDC presentation also highlighted local corporate relocations and retail openings — Inland Real Estate Group locating a new headquarters at Highland Landmark 4, new restaurants and shops along Ogden and Butterfield, and a Midwestern University companion-animal clinic. Gay noted an ongoing project pipeline of about 31 tracked developments and promoted community events and ribbon-cuttings planned for March.
On economic indicators, Gay said Downers Grove’s commercial occupancy was about 90.8% in fourth-quarter 2025, industrial vacancy roughly 6.0%, and class A office vacancy around 18.08% — all measures he presented as relative strengths compared with the broader I‑88 corridor. He also reported sales-tax receipts and other fiscal indicators for November 2025 (combined home-rule and local use sales tax of about $2.5 million, a monthly food & beverage tax of roughly $36,000, and hotel tax receipts near $70,500) and an unemployment rate near 3.8%.
Council members asked for clearer metrics on retention — for example, how to measure businesses the EDC prevented from leaving — and Gay said the EDC will produce case studies on the new website and target retention outreach through a CRM system (CivicServe). He said the retention numbers are a mix of anecdotal and tracked outcomes and that the EDC will refine measurement over time.
All data presented were described by Gay as preliminary or estimated where so noted; council members asked for follow-up reporting once final KPI analysis is available.
