Skokie Video Game Lounge Gets TIF Funds For Improvements

SKOKIE, IL — The Skokie Village Board approved a grant of up to $153,000 to convert an underused building to a video arcade, restaurant and entertainment center. Construction on the 18,000 square-foot site with two bars and a planned e-sport tournament venue is already underway, and trustees approved public matching funds for long-term building improvements at their Jan. 2 meeting.

Owner Flavius Maximus has run Ignite Gaming in Chicago for a decade. Last April, he purchased a former furniture warehouse in the 8100 block of Skokie Boulevard in order to turn it into a "interactive amusement facility," according to a memo from village staff.

Maximus expects work on the interior to cost about $730,000 and exterior work to cost more than $300,000. The maximum contribution from village grants would be $53,000 for the interior work and $100,000 for the exterior work, according to staff.

The presence of the CTA Yellow Line station about a block south made the location ideal for investment, wrote Village Manager John Lockerbie.

Maximus' renovation plans include a full kitchen, new bathrooms, electrical, plumbing and air conditioning. There would be room for 200 people, plus an additional space for special events and rentals.

And Skokie's downtown rehabilitation grant programs will help pay for the building's transformation.

The incentive programs is funded through the Downtown Science + Technology Tax Increment Financing Fund. The capped matching grants are limited to capital improvements expected to stay with the property even if the business does not.

According to Leslie Murphy, the village's economic development specialist, Ignite is the 18th project to receive a grant under the interior renovation program. Past grantees have included the former Kabul House restaurants, Libertad, Siunik Armenian Grill, Porto's Peri Peri and others.

Maximus told the Skokie Review he is investing a total of around $2 million to open the location, which is expected to open by late spring.

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