Niles village leaders hope a new tax increment financing district on Touhy Avenue will spearhead an estimated $17 million in redevelopment along the corridor.
The Niles Village Board voted 6-0 at its March 25 meeting in favor of ordinances formally creating the Niles Southwest Touhy Corridor TIF Redevelopment Plan and Project. The TIF includes parcels located on the north and south side of Touhy Avenue – bounded by Harlem Avenue to the west, the North Branch of the Chicago River to the east and parcels fronting Touhy Avenue to the north and south by North Milwaukee Avenue.
If the town secures a developer for the area, village leaders are projecting an increase in the equalized assessed valuation for that area from the current $3.79 million to between $9 million and $12 million over the 23-year term of the TIF.
“Every day it’s sitting the way it is, we’re losing money,” mayor George Alpogianis told Pioneer Press. “We know we have to do something. It’s been 2½ decades since anything has been built in Niles. We need to start rolling the dice and try to respect and carry out the wishes of the citizens who have asked for this over the last four years.”
The mayor believes the new TIF — which was approved by the Joint Review Board of affected taxing districts in December and presented to residents during a public hearing in January — will attract developers to build a mixed-use development. It would include residential, retail, and commercial spaces expected to generate more property and sales tax revenues, as well as new jobs.
The board approved three ordinances March 25 that establish the TIF: One to approve a tax increment development plan and redevelopment project; a second designating the project area; and the third adopting tax increment allocation financing.
The board started discussing this new TIF district in 2023, which connects to another TIF created six years ago at Touhy and Harlem avenues, according to village documents.
“That area has been desolate for quite a while and not generating a lot of revenue,” Alpogianis said.
The village bought the bank on the northeast corner of Touhy and Harlem avenues years ago to “control what was going to be built there in the future,” leaders said. However, village officials discovered there wasn’t enough TIF money to attract developers to stimulate the redevelopment they desired for that area.
“How are you going to make it more sexy?” the mayor said village leaders questioned. “How do you better entice people?”
As a result, they decided to create this adjoining Southwest Touhy Corridor TIF district which Alpogianis said will combine the two areas to stimulate development in both TIF districts.
In fact, village officials have been in recent discussions with Nea Maya Real Estate Development which is proposing a 200-unit luxury apartment building at Harlem and Touhy avenues which would have retail on the first floor and seven stories of residential, a dog park, gym, sauna and swimming pool. If approved, the mayor hopes this project will be built out over the next three years.
“We’ve been very successful with our TIFs,” Alpogianis said. “It’s been a tool and it’s an investment. The tax increment from this project is going to go way up from apartments, revenue from retail businesses and people spending more money in the village of Niles.”
Last year, he said the village generated $2 billion in retail sales, which helps the village keep its share of residential property taxes low.
“We’re keeping these businesses open and creating new businesses, generating sales tax revenue and bringing jobs to the area,” the mayor explained. “We’re not only trying to retain but create a bigger base. We have to look at it as how it helps us in the future keeping our property tax base at only 10 cents of every dollar,”
Much of the area in the new TIF district predates the village’s first comprehensive plan and contains 10 structures on 59 tax parcels and makes up almost 20 acres,according to village data. Fifty percent of the buildings in the area are over 35 years old and showing their age, according to the February redevelopment plan jointly created by the village and the consulting firm, Ryan Inc.
Village officials determined that establishing a TIF would help to achieve economic development in the area identified in the village’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan. Officials found that this area met five of the TIF qualification factors, including deterioration; obsolescence, deleterious land use or layout, as well as lack of community planning and lag or decline in EAV.
“This is an important revenue-generating part of town,” Niles Community Development Director Chris Raguso stated in an email to Pioneer Press. “This TIF compliments current redevelopment efforts at Harlem and Touhy and Gross Point and Touhy. These efforts are to ensure that we are stabilizing our local economy and proactively providing resources to grow. A TIF is the preeminent tool that affords a local municipality the ability to conserve our spending power and overall budget, stay competitive with area communities and continue to be a destination for residents, visitors and businesses.”
The area has “proximity to high quality transportation options and roadways can increase opportunities for new businesses, while improved streetscaping and pedestrian paths can support the existing commercial character of the corridor,” according to the village’s strategic plan.
The company that will ultimately develop the Southwest Touhy Corridor TIF District will be responsible for improving public utilities and infrastructure including roadways, sidewalks, water mains, sewer systems, public parking facilities, stormwater management and detention facilities and much more, according to village data.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
