Northbrook trustees OK tax incentive for company buying vacant building
Northbrook trustees on Tuesday paved the way for a new owner to occupy a building vacant for three years.
Approved by a 5-0 vote of the board, applicant Northbrook Distribution LLC will receive a Cook County Class 6b Property Tax Incentive for vinyl products manufacturer Sterling Brands to buy, update and move into a vacant 1973 building on 2.89 acres at 3401 Commercial Ave., and Huehl Road.
The 48,218 square-foot building, last occupied in 2018 by Sky Harbor, will be used for warehousing, manufacturing and as an office location. Initially, 25 employees will transfer to Northbrook with an additional 45-75 planned to be hired over the 12-year period covered by the tax incentive. The Northbrook site, marketed by Colliers International, is an expansion for Sterling, whose headquarters are in Wheeling.
A Class 6b incentive reduces overall property taxes for 12 years. A letter to Michaela Kohlstedt, Northbrook's director of Development and Planning Services, from the applicant's legal representative, Liston & Tsantilis, stated that after purchasing the property for $2.45 million, putting $300,000 into immediate improvements and $200,000 more over the next 24 months, the property would generate an estimated $873,606 in local taxes over the life of the incentive.
Without the Class 6b incentive, which Sterling required to seal the deal, the property would produce $815,270. Cook County must also vote to approve.
"The fact that our tax base is not reduced by this at all but will ultimately be enhanced is additional convincing of the value of this," said Trustee Bob Israel.
Noted by the Chicago-based law firm in its letter to Kohlstedt, it's estimated that Sterling's presence would also contribute $1.5 million to the local economy through retail and restaurants, gas sales, recreation and hospitality.
The tax incentive plan was supported by the Northbrook Park District, the Northbrook Public Library and school districts 225 and 27. Once the 12-year period expires, the village does not intend to renew the tax incentive.
Sterling Brands began in 1943 as Superior American and, using recycled materials, makes products such as chair mats, carpet runners and strip curtains. These are sold at outlets including Ace Hardware, Menards and The Home Depot.
Coming on the heels of constructing a Climate Action Plan - which the board also approved Tuesday - in preliminary board discussion of this topic on April 13 trustees had not been so enamored of seeing more plastics in their turf. The applicant's representative said the plant will produce no single-use plastic bags, only PVC products.
What's more, Sterling will serve as a vendor for the village's plastic recycling program by providing collection storage and weekly pickup from Village Hall for recycling in Wheeling.
That thrilled the trustees, notably Heather Ross, with Israel a key contributor to the Climate Action Plan.
"The fact that they're willing to partner with us to continue our plastic recycling program, which sort of got to a place where we couldn't store it here anymore and had no way to recycle it, is a big positive," she said.
Board President Kathryn Ciesla directly addressed the applicants seated in the Sandra "Sandy" Frum Board Room.
"First of all, welcome to Northbrook," she said. "Thank you very much for investing in our community; we really, really appreciate it.
"And thank you also for partnering with us. It's a really out-of-the-box thing for us to partner with a company in our community to get these plastics recycled. And it means a lot."