Seven Bridges Development Valuable Asset to Woodridge and its Residents

When the Village of Woodridge annexed the prime real estate along Route 53 that's now the home to the Seven Bridges Development, the property was a blank canvas just waiting to come alive.

By several measures, it's done just that.

The commercial area has become a destination for shoppers, and it's delivered a substantial boost to the town's tax base.

In 2005, WineStyles was one the first businesses to open in the Main Street Development of Seven Bridges.

"We chose to open our store at Seven Bridges because we used to live in Woodridge and we knew this was the perfect location to reach our target customer," explains James Pontrelli, proprietor of WineStyles. "We wanted to provide residents with an alternative to downtown Naperville."

Michael Mays, the director of Woodridge's community development department, said the village wanted a design that incorporated both residential and commercial opportunities within the 384 acres that extend from the Seven Bridges Ice Arena to Mulligan Drive. Today, there are businesses as well as multi-family homes, condominiums, apartments and the Seven Bridges Golf Course.

That concentration is exactly what appealed to Lisa Shelly.

"We just love the convenience of being so close to Seven Bridges," Shelly says. "I can meet up with friends for a girls night out at Cabana Charley's, take my sons to a movie at Cinemark or just relax with a cup of coffee at Starbucks."

Village officials point to these statistics as evidence of their success:

• In 2009, the businesses in the Seven Bridges Development generated $7.5 million in property taxes.
• In 1990, the total assessed value for the entire Seven Bridges Development was $5 million. Today, the value is $125 million, about 10 percent of Woodridge's total $1.2 billion assessed value.
• Due in part to the success of commercial developments such as Seven Bridges, the village tax rate has decreased every year for 24 consecutive years.

"The key was to diversify the tax base with commercial development," Mays said. "The tax revenue generated by the businesses would directly benefit all the taxing bodies of Woodridge, including the public library, school district, fire district and the park district."

With the various businesses in Seven Bridges, it's easy to find a special deal nearly every night of the week. Some examples:

• Cabana Charley's features half-price burgers every Monday and free kids' meals on Tuesday nights.
• Blue Ginger offers all-you-can-eat sushi for $34.99 on Tuesdays and buy-2/get-1-free rolls and $5 martinis on Wednesdays.
• WineStyles offers free wine tastings every Thursday night.
• You can chow down on 60-cent boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings, also on Thursdays.
• On the 17^th of every month, the Tilted Kilt celebrates Saint "Practice" Day with green beer and a menu of traditional Irish fare.
• And every day of the week, there's an early-bird rate for the first matinee at Cinemark.