Clarendon Hills 'Dead Corner' Being Revived: Officials

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – A new downtown Clarendon Hills business is reviving what one official called a "dead corner."

Jacaranda Boutique & Interiors, 5 S. Prospect Ave., applied for a $9,378 village subsidy to improve the space, formerly a Coldwell Banker real estate office.

The village said the business, owned by Josue and Mariana Cuevas, has invested more than $20,000 into beautifying the building.

"This applicant has done a really nice job taking what was a dead corner that didn't have a lot of character and made some significant improvements to the exterior and interior," the village's community development director, Ed Cage, told the Village Board on Monday.

Much of the work has already been done, officials said.

Village President Eric Tech said the owners have invested a lot of money, even though they did not know whether they would get a grant.

The board approved the subsidy.

The money is coming from the village's downtown tax increment financing district, or TIF. Growth in property tax income in the district is invested in the district itself.

The idea is that the village will draw far more tax income than the subsidies to businesses such as Jacaranda.