Elmhurst Council To Vote On Developer Subsidy

ELMHURST, IL – The Elmhurst City Council is set to vote Monday on increasing a townhome developer's subsidy by more than $300,000.

Last year, the council approved $950,000 for a proposed townhome development at 240 W. Lake St. It is the site of an old Ford auto body shop, which has gone used for more than a dozen years.

Last week, a City Council committee recommended increasing that amount to $1.3 million.

This was after the developer, Elmhurst's John Pembroke, said he would need more help because the city rejected his earlier plan for 36 townhomes. He has since scaled back the plan to 30, although the city has yet to approve the zoning.

The money would come from the neighborhood's tax increment financing district, or TIF.

With the project, the city expects the property value to grow enough over time to generate the property taxes to pay off the $1.3 million.

According to the city, the project payback would be a dozen years for city expenses.

The committee said it wanted to make clear that its recommendation for the money was not an endorsement of the project's zoning.

The developer must still go back to the city's Zoning and Planning Commission to pitch the scaled-back proposal.

Explaining its decision, the council committee said the lot was unique because it lacks close access to city water. And the depth of the storm sewer in this spot renders it unusable for development, the city said. Much of the TIF money is dedicated to fixing those problems.

At Monday's council meeting, the $1.3 million subsidy is slated to be voted on with a package of other items. Any alderman can remove the developer issue from the package for a separate vote and discussion.