ATI approved 6-1

Updated: 2:45 p.m.

Council approved ORD 00-03890 by a vote of 6-1.  Among other things, the ordinance amends an agreement with New England Builders that allows ATI to open a 10,000 square foot facility in Acadia on the Green building one incorporating both a 3,000-square-foot physical therapy facility and a 7,000-square-foot fitness center.

Only Commissioner William Waldack voted against the amendment after failing to find backing for a suggestion that would have required the developer to make payment in lieu of the $25,000 in sales taxes the space could be expected to generate annually.

Commissioner Marilyn Schnell said a comment by EDC board chairman, Ph.D. economist and Big Four acccounting firm partner Don Jankowski had “swayed” her, prompting her affirmative vote.

Jankowski was among a number of business owners and residents who spoke to the issue, most of whom wanted to maintain the existing redevelopment agreement calling for at least 90% retail and discouraging as undesirable health club facilities in the Acadia complex.

George Swimmer, a CBD business owner, spoke about the Lakota Plan that had laid the original groundwork for downtown redevelopment.  Bill Nienburg, who said he was speaking as a resident and not a business owner, read a prepared statement that was interrupted by Mayor Sandack when it ran over the allotted time. Nienburg was allowed extra time to finish.

Willis Johnson, whose company owns the Tivoli building among other real estate around the village, cautioned commissioners that actions taken to solve short-term problems might have long term effects.  If rent levels make sense, it would rent, he said.

Other business owners seemed to underline that opinion in their comments; several had expressed interest in renting space in the AotG building one, but went elsewhere after receiving little interest from the renting agent.

Local attorney Kevin McQuillan, a Naperville resident, got into a bit  of back and forth with Mayor Sandack: lawyers-can’t help arguing I guess.

Last to the mike was Jankowski, who wore an ATI t-shirt he acquired as a physical therapy patient at the company’s Darien facility.

He outlined the economic factors arrayed against the retail sector:  bank financing is virtually non-existent, consumer spending has plunged while saving rates are up, shopping habits are changing in favor of  discounters and big-box stores, and a spate of retail bankruptcies have created vacancies in Downers Grove and throughout the country.

“The fact is retailers are struggling in this economy and that is not likely to change in 2010,” he said. “Based on my experience as a professional economist, I believe to return to where we were before the financial downturn we’re probably looking at 2015. ”

Citing the impact of the internet, Jankowski also predicted that brick-and-mortar retailers will have a difficult time ever returning to levels they enjoyed before the current recession.

While the retail aspect of the ordinance captured the most attention, it should be noted that it contained several other  items related to New England Builders and ATI:

• provide a credit from the purchase price for the Phase III property for improvements made by the developer above and beyond the requirements of the redevelopment agreement
• extend the schedule for the developer’s purchase of the final phase of the development
• accept certain public improvements and reduce the letter of credit posted by the developer
• accept a grant of easement for public alley purposes
• grant an easement to the developer for the maintenance of the village green space
• approve the lease of first floor tenant space to ATI physical therapy and fitness center

Not approving the last condition would have meant not approving any of the above, which would have created its own problems.  It looks likely the lease was a linchpin to NEB getting the necessary funds to buy the third and last part of the AOTG project, the building on Main Street, which will probably feature street-level retail.

Following the meeting, the DGreport checked in with Tammi Karam, one of the downtown retailers who had opposed changing the changing the 90-10 retail guidelines.

While there had been some talk about filing a lawsuit should the ATI lease win approval, Karam said her group intends “to learn from the experience and move on.”

She had planned to become more involved in the Downtown Management Corp. before the ATI issue came up and she will stay involved now that it has been resolved, Karam said.

Her next goal is to encourage downtown management board members to post their email addresses on the organization’s site.

She also wants to work toward better communications between downtown management, the Downers Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and business owners throughout Downers Grove, many of whom “don’t know where to turn to,” she said.

“This issue has been an eye-opener to me.”