If Riverside ever decides to establish a TIF district in Downtown Riverside, the village has pledged some of that money to assist in the redevelopment of the Arcade Building at 1 Riverside Road.
At a special meeting of the village board on Sept. 3, trustees voted 5-0 to pass a “resolution of inducement to develop/redevelop” the Arcade Building following a plea from the building’s owner for help in the multi-million dollar improvement of the structure. The Arcade Building, designed by Frederick C. Withers, was constructed around 1871 and was the first commercial building erected in the village. The Victorian gothic building was designated a local historic landmark in 1993.
In a letter to Village President Harold J. Wiaduck Jr. dated June 30, Don Price, president of the Wexford Development Group, wrote that “to date, we estimate that total investment in the project including site acquisition to be approximately $8.5 million.
“In further analyzing the total investment costs, the project parameters and the tax burden that will be realized upon completion of the project, we find that we are unable to complete the project in the manner as originally planned without some financial assistance from the village,” Price added.
The resolution passed by the village does not promise a specific dollar figure to developers of the Arcade Building. But the resolution does state that “the cost of the necessary public improvements, site preparation and other costs to be incurred may qualify for Tax Increment Financing” and that the village will “take such actions as [it] deem[s] appropriate and necessary to induce quality development of the site.”
Village Manager Kathleen Rush said that the resolution does not promise any village funds to the redevelopment project and does not mean that the village board has decided to implement a TIF District. The board has been investigating the creation of such a district for the past eight months, and a decision on creating a TIF could be made later this fall.
“Basically it’s like a handshake,” Rush said of the resolution. “If they start the project and no TIF is established, then they are on their own. There’s no guarantee any funds are coming for this, but it tells the Arcade Building owners that we are working with them in good faith.”
Rush said that Wexford is the only developer that has come to the village seeking such an agreement. The owners of the Village Center Development, currently under construction at the corner of Longcommon Road and East Burlington Street, just across the railroad tracks from the Arcade Building, have not approached the village about inclusion in any future TIF District.
Price did not return calls seeking comment.