Editor’s note: Sorry for the delay. This story has turned out to be longer and more involved than expected. A bad cold over the weekend didn’t help. Part 3 will be up shortly.
The proposal to lease 10,000 square feet of Acadia on the Green space to a physical therapy and fitness facility has elicited a mixed and sometimes emotional response on this blog and throughout the community. Tuesday, the village council will make its decision. Here are some of the viewpoints commissioners undoubtedly will take into consideration.
The opposition
Several downtown retailers and others oppose the plan, which they feel is a rejection of the original concept for the space, as set forth in the AotG prospectus: “At the forefront of the plan, Acadia on the Green, a public/private partnership, has been established to develop a critical block of space in the heart of downtown for retail, residential and civic use.”
The retailers don’t feel their opinions were solicited by the Downtown Management Corp. board — comprised of four business owners, four property owners plus ex officio members — which voted in favor of the proposal.
They also object to the $21 per square foot rate being offered ATI, which is considerably lower than many interested local retailers had been quoted.
“At $21 a square foot that building would be filled with retail,” said Tammi Karam, who pays twice as much for the space her Humidor store occupies — a price she accepted based on the development’s potential as a local retail showplace.
(Meanwhile, at least one local retailer has been approached by a neighboring suburb that is looking to lure retailers to its downtown by offering space at $10 per square foot.)
Joining the retailers in opposition to ATI is Bill Nienburg, a member of the Economic Development Corp. board, and Dave Bormes, a local businessman who spent 32 years working in real estate lending.
Nienburg, who is opposing the plan in his role as a private citizen, said there is room for flexibility in the 90-10 guideline, but “this is a complete toss-out.”
ATI would be the “single largest Acadia tenant and maybe one of the largest in the downtown business district,” he said.
Bormes said he’d heard some discussion of changing the 90-10 guidelines. “My first reaction was that might not be a bad idea.” However, the potential lease was presented before that could be accomplished, he said.
Both men expressed concerns about the parking problems that could result from the facility and questioned the village’s willingness to present the proposal without performing a study, as was done before the AotG project was approved.
“I’m concerned a lot of tax dollars went into the deal and decisions were made on the basis of professional studies,” Bormes said. “Now we are making decisions not based on a study.”
“We should have a healthy discussion,” Bormes said. “My suggestion is: Let’s go get a study. We could get one done in two weeks.”
Bormes suggested that financial pressures may be driving the ATI proposal, noting “there’s hardly a deal done in 2005 that is working today. This would be an oddity if this deal were working.”
However, both men feel the ATI proposal offers a quick fix that might turn out to be negative once growth resumes, which some analysts predict will begin to happen in 2010. “You want a healthy vacancy rate, not an unhealthy vacancy rate,” said Bormes. “Zero is unhealthy.”
“I feel for the council and appreciate their fiduciary situation, but the right fiscal decision would be to leave the space empty and wait for good retail,” Nienburg said. To do so would provide the village not only with $50,000 a year in property tax revenue, but also sales tax revenue.
“Leaving the space open for an additional year versus jumping on this current proposal over the life of the initial lease is worth an incremental $138,511 to the village,” Nienburg said. “In fact, you don’t break even unless the space stays vacant for over three more years.”
Whatever decision is reached by the council tomorrow night, both Nienburg and Karam believe the current debate will impact the downtown community for some time to come.
Karam said the ATI debate has become political, with opposition retailers warned “not to be on the wrong side of the issue” and tensions and fear-mongering spreading through the CBD community.
“I thought we were going about this (protest) the right way,” she said. “When I promoted downtown Downers Grove, I didn’t hear any complaints.” She intends to be more active in the Downtown Management Corp. going forward.
Nienburg believes the controversy could have a positive impact, no matter how it ends up.
“It’s definitely heightened the awareness of the downtown merchants,” he said. “There will be a renewed focus on what we are doing to steer our downtown.”
Ten bucks a square foot?!? Where, Robbins? Harvey??
I know of a large space on Butterfield in DG that was charging $9 a sq. ft last year (before the crash).
I think that downtown retailers need to take their collective heads out of the sand and look around. Despite what Kramer and the CNBC talking heads say…this recession is borderline depression. Let’s be grateful for an opportunity to welcome more business, and foot traffic in our downtown.
Come Wednesday morning ATI will be approved and this non sence will be a thing of the past. Bill and Dave will need a new thing to worry about……maybe Stillwaters will do.
Good Grief.