As some nearby residents voiced concerns, Aurora officials this week said the city would entertain any number of possible uses for land it assembles in the Farnsworth Corridor near Interstate 88, not just a casino.
“There is a lot of tremendous excitement that could happen,” said Trevor Dick, Aurora’s development strategy and facilitation director. “This is the first step in a long planning process.”
That first step would be the city spending up to $10 million to buy nine parcels on the south side of Bilter Road, just to the north of Chicago Premium Outlets. The City Council Finance Committee last week recommended the city purchase the properties, using Invest Aurora, the city’s non-profit development organization, as the broker.
Under that arrangement, the city would pay about $10 million to nine property owners to buy nine parcels of land totaling 50 acres along the south side of Bilter Road. The properties are just north of the outlet mall.
The city’s Finance Committee last week recommended the arrangement, and aldermen saw the plans as a full council for the first time at this week’s Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday night.
The properties have been a matter of speculation for the city going back to when Tom Weisner was mayor. At one time, the property owners along there banded together and marketed their parcels together through one broker, but in the past year or so went back to marketing the parcels individually. The city owns a parcel along there already that it bought about three years ago, and even considered using that land to create another entrance to the outlet mall.
While there are residences on the properties right now, the properties have been zoned for office, research and light industrial in the city’s master plan since 1995, said John Curley, the city’s chief development officer. He said one of the positive aspects of buying the parcels all at once is that it would help get improvements done.
For instance, that area is the only place where Bilter Road narrows to two lanes, instead of four. Buying the property all at once could make it easier to widen the road there.
“If these were to come in piecemeal, we would not be able to do Bilter,” Curley said.
The city has been actively pursuing land in what it calls the Farnsworth Corridor, in and around the outlet mall and the Farnsworth interchange with Interstate 88. Last year, it finalized the purchase of two hotels near the interchange, and already owned another parcel next to them. David Dibo, Aurora’s Economic Development director, said the city also has been talking to other property owners in the corridor about “the highest and best use of their properties.”
“It’s an opportunity to master plan this area,” he said.
Alex Alexandrou, the city’s chief management officer, said this is the time to strike to buy the land as a first step in the planning process.
“We would be remiss if we didn’t leverage this opportunity so the city can control its destiny,” he said. “If we do nothing, and let this go back to market, it may be another 20 years before anything goes there.”
Alexandrou said the city has talked to Hollywood Casino about possibly relocating there from downtown Aurora, and a bill that recently passed the General Assembly now allows casinos to relocate off waterways. Hollywood Casino and city officials lobbied in Springfield to get that legislation, and Aurora representatives downstate had a lot to do with sponsoring and pushing it.
Alexandrou said both Hollywood Casino and Simon, owner of the outlet mall, have been very interested in talking to the city about the future of the land along Bilter. He added that the city is talking with other hospitality and entertainment uses too.
City officials made their statements after several residents spoke at the Committee of the Whole meeting against putting a casino on the Bilter Road properties. After the city’s plans to purchase the properties became public in a story in The Beacon-News, it came under fire from many people through emails and on social media.
Roger Vernon, of the Big Woods-Marmion neighborhood, said he received about 30 emails and texts in one day saying people were “not in favor of a casino there.” He suggested the city work with subdivision residents on what might go on the property.
Terry Voitek, a nearby resident, called the idea of buying the land “atrocious.”
“This is not an appropriate area for a casino,” she said. “I’m disappointed the city would consider one near a residential neighborhood.”
They found agreement from one alderman, Ald. Judd Lofchie, 10th Ward, who said he too received a lot of calls, texts and emails from people “who do not want a casino across from residential.” He suggested the city concentrate instead on the hotel properties along Farnsworth.
“My constituents would like to see this on Kirk, or Farnsworth,” Lofchie said.
Lofchie also agreed with residents who said they are nervous about the city incurring more debt to buy the properties, especially with the uncertainty of debt the city has regarding public safety pensions and other areas. Earlier in the meeting, Martin Lyons, the city’s chief financial officer, gave a presentation of the city’s debt that showed it at about $950 million. He also said that the city is in a position of spending about $100 million for overall projects in the area to gain back $1 billion in private investment.
That prompted Ald. Sherman Jenkins, at large, who was the Economic Development director when the outlet mall was negotiated, to call the expense an “investment” that is “going to pay bigger dividends.”
“We have a major interchange here,” Jenkins said. “Everything is falling into place.”
Alexandrou said the concerns Lofchie and the residents have “are all well-taken.”
“That’s why we’re not rushing to just one possible use,” he said.
He pointed out that with the new gambling legislation that passed the General Assembly, Penn National Gaming, owners of Hollywood Casino-Aurora, as well as other gaming companies, are evaluating what they will do. He said the city will do a Farnsworth Corridor plan that also will include traffic studies.
“Step one is to control your own destiny,” he said.
slord@tribpub.com