Tax Break Approved For Company's Move To Northbrook From Glenview

NORTHBROOK, IL — Northbrook trustees approved a tax incentive for aircraft parts supplier Jet International to relocate to 1919 Stanley St., the former site of Maurice Sporting Goods. Trustees voted 5-2 Tuesday to give the business, currently located at 1811 Elmdale Ave. in Glenview, a Cook County 6b tax break for 12 years.

Jet International is a warehousing and distribution center that offers refurbished components for airplanes, so its customers are mainly the airlines of the world and proximity to O’Hare International Airport provides it with a competitive advantage, according to the company’s application materials.

At issue was whether the vacant building had been unused for long enough to qualify for the incentive. Properties that have not been vacant for the two years required under Cook County regulations need to seek special permission.

The former Maurice Sporting Goods location has technically only been vacant since June. However, there was only a skeleton crew working at the site, which was being used for storage.

The company said it intends to invest $500,000 in the site, where it hopes to continue growing.

Jet International said it is has 26 full time employees. Minimum salary is $40,000 annually with an average compensation of $70,000, plus comprehensive health insurance, CEO Neil Mehlman told trustees. He said he intends on adding four to eight new employees as soon as he can and hopes to grow to 50 employees over the next decade, according to his application materials.

According to letters provided to the board, most local taxing bodies supported providing the incentive. While local school districts and the library supported granting it, a letter from the Northbrook Park District board said its “consensus was that the request did not satisfy the criteria or the intent of the 6b Incentive Resolution.”

As for the village, Northbrook's economic development committee chose not to take a stand on the matter but its Industrial and Commercial Design Commission unanimously voted to support it.

“Strictly speaking, the letter of the law, in terms of the time the building's been vacant hasn’t been met," said Trustee Jim Karagianis. "However if you look at the building, it has very limited ceiling height, and no matter what would happen it would be very hard to find a business that was interested in that building going forward."

Trustee Muriel Collison said she was not comfortable voting for the incentive because it does not meet the requirements for time left vacant and could become a mixed-use site.

Trustee Jason Han, citing the ICDC's 8-0 vote, decided to support the incentive.

“In principle, I’m sort of opposed to it. But I think, on balance, this is a suitable petition," he said. "So I’ll go with the majority.”

Despite recalling that she has voted for every previous 6b incentive, Trustee Kathryn Ciesla said she opposed granting the tax breaks.

“I think the timing is just not consistent with what 6b provides,” she said. “While I understand it would be a valuable business to come into the community, there’s nothing that prohibits the applicant from coming into the community and paying the taxes that are assessed for the property.”

Village President Sandy Frum said her concern was that Northbrook has a tendency to let business areas become residential.

“Even though this has a lower amount being paid than if it were fully on the tax roll, the assumption I think we’re all making is that this is a business that will stay in Northbrook and in the long run be beneficial to the community and the tax base,” she said.

Trustees Bob Israel and A.C. Bueller also voted in favor of the tax break.

According to the company’s estimates, its property taxes would be reduced from $1.3 million to about $600,000. That compares to about in annual property tax revenue $425,000 if the site remained empty.

It said it will “bring the property back to life” with a comprehensive modernization inside and out to attract customers and employees.

According to a letter from Mehlman asking for the tax break, former owner Maurice moved its distribution hub from Northbrook to Nevada and Georgia to avoid high property taxes and unions, leaving behind “three warehouse buildings on Stanley that are all functionally obsolete and in ill repair” and in a state of “extreme underutilization and abandonment.”

It said the warehouse “looks more like a suburban basement than a modern distribution facility” and contains many of the founder’s personal collection of mini race cars, motorcycles and guns.

Although Glenview village officials tried to find another location for Jet International, they were unable to find a suitable site, Glenview's planning director, Jeff Brady, told the Northbrook Star. He said he assumes the space will be used by another industrial tenant if Jet decides to relocate.

Read more: Tax Breaks Wanted To Move Glenview Business To Northbrook

_{Top photo: 1919 Stanley St. in Northbrook, owned by Maurice Sporting Goods and possible future site of Jet International | Google Street View}