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Excellence in Urban or Suburban Economic Development (cont.)
The development community has responded well to Tinley Park’s approach. “The community has high standards, and does a phenomenal job of creating incentives,” says Steve Vernon, president of Vernon Development Company. “Tinley Park leaders appreciate business and understand development,” echoes Aristotle Halikias, president of Inter- Continental Development Company. “This community has a can-do attitude, and the government works with business leaders to get the job done right.” The Tinley Park Economic Development Web site (www.TinleyParkBiz.biz) also was designed to respond to the specific requests of the private sector. The site, which the community considers its prime marketing tool, is userfriendly and provides comprehensive information in National Data Standards format. (The site also won the International Economic Development Council’s 2005 award for “Best Economic Development Web site” for cities 50,000 to 200,000.)
This past year, with a team of local, regional, and state officials, Tinley Park Economic Development coordinated the location of three new corporate headquarters (Japanese automotive supplier UGN, Italian tile company Avantile and rubber manufacturer AeroRubber) and a new State Farm Regional Claims Office. Also in 2005, Tinley Park used a combination of incentives including tax-increment financing (TIF), tax abatements, landscaping and infrastructure assistance to encourage over 1.2 million square feet of new commercial and industrial development. These projects included two new manufacturers, a 600,000-square-foot retail center, a cancer treatment center, two retail strip centers, two automobile dealers and a full-service hotel. Five years ago, no convention and hospitality industry existed in the south and southwest regions of metro Chicago. That was before Tinley Park leaders established a TIF district and constructed the region’s first convention center. Today, the 64,000-square-foot Tinley Park Convention Center services 565,000 attendees annually and has been the catalyst for eight new hotel developments with a total of 979 hotel rooms. As a result, Tinley Park is the only community in the south/southwest regions of Chicago with a fully developed hospitality sector – a local annual impact of $143 million. Tinley Park also has made major progress in recent years on redeveloping its downtown; it has been recognized by The Chicago Tribune as one of the top six best-planned downtown redevelopments in metro Chicago. To encourage highquality, transit-oriented development, village leaders invested over $6.5 million to make the new prairie-style Downtown Tinley Park Metra Rail Station an architectural focal point for the city. Aided by TIF and infrastructure assistance, four new mixed-use projects are under development in downtown Tinley, including 200 new condominiums, a new 11- screen movie theatre and 90,000 square feet of new commercial space. Today, downtown boasts 186 businesses, including 22 restaurants, plus village sponsorship of 20 arts and recreation events that attract both residents and visitors.
Thirty new businesses opened in the village in the first half of this year, almost a 50 percent increase over the previous period a year ago. Thirty percent of those businesses are located in the historic district, where the vacancy rate is less than four percent – that’s half the vacancy rate in suburban Chicago and one-quarter of the commercial vacancy rate in downtown Chicago. This activity created 1,600 new jobs, generated nearly a $90 million impact for the area, and resulted in $210 million in capital investment in our community by businesses. Tinley Park’s economic development program is receiving recognition for its accomplishments from all corners of the field. The village recently was recognized as one of 12 finalists for the 2006 National Economic Development Leadership and Innovation Award from CoreNet Global, the world’s largest association of real estate executives. As progress continues, the tasks of promoting community- friendly growth, quality development and stable tax rates remain among the most important objectives of Tinley Park.
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