Saying 'No' to development in Orland Park

Saying 'No' to development in Orland Park

The village of Orland Park is attempting to acquire the Orland Plaza retail center property through any means necessary so as to redevelop the area into an upscale downtown center, a plan that has met strong resistance from the current tenants.

The majority have leases that run through this decade and into the next and most aren’t willing to just pick up and move. Previous developer Related Midwest gave up on the project earlier this year after finding it nearly impossible to negotiate the buyouts.

Orland Park is attempting to redevelop the land—which borders LaGrange Road, 143rd Street and Southwest Highway—known as the triangle into a mixed-use, downtown area that will be next to the Metra train stop. Much of the land has already been purchased, and the village is working toward acquiring this last parcel.

“Orland Park has lacked a traditional, pedestrian-oriented downtown and this is a chance to start to build that,” said Bob Sullivan, planning director for the village.

Having encountered rigid opposition to a buyout by the plaza’s current tenants, the village has threatened to use eminent domain as a way to force the store owners out of the area.

Recently, village officials met with the business owners of the plaza in order to negotiate a reasonable solution to the problem. Orland Park contends that it has offered fair value for the land and is even willing to help the displaced businesses relocate within the community.

This initiative is a top priority for the village, and its officials are willing to do whatever it takes to see it through.

“This is a long-term, larger area vision for the entire village center district and the village has to look at things that way,” said Sullivan. “We think it’s going to kick-start a redevelopment of the village center area and help us create that attractive walkable downtown that we don’t have now.”

The planned center will utilize its location near the train station and will feature a mix of retail, office and residential properties.

“It’s a perfect marriage of uses because the train station generates a lot of pedestrian traffic,” Sullivan said. “Then you have a central public gathering space, which is the (planned) park, and then the buildings are situated around the park and we’ll activate that space with people and activities.”

While the finished product will be beneficial to the village and should create a thriving downtown area, the current tenants are questioning the logic of displacing numerous tax-paying businesses that have been on the property for quite some time.

“Most of the businesses that are in here are businesses that are very stable and have been in this community for many years,” said Rick Huff, owner of Randy’s Market, located in the plaza.

Huff does not believe there is anywhere else in Orland Park that he would be able to relocate to without having to accept a large increase in rent and expenses. Additionally, he did not find last month’s conversation with village officials at all helpful.

“They basically told us several times that the village is not going to compensate us for anything, that it would be up to the landlords to compensate us on the remainder of our leases,” he said.

The lease at Randy’s Market runs through 2012 and Huff is finding it hard to understand why the village would want to forfeit the tax revenue his company would generate over the next five years.

He points out that the village is not earning any tax revenues from the companies around the plaza that have already been forced to relocate out of town. Those areas are currently empty.

“These were all businesses that had been here for many years,” he said. “There’s no tax revenue coming in from those places and now they’re looking to knock down this entire building, which is 99 percent full occupancy right now. Apparently, they don’t need the tax revenue from these buildings.”

The recent threat by the village to use eminent domain to acquire the land has added a new wrinkle to this saga, but that process would need to go through the courts, which could push back the redevelopment for years.

That option would not be beneficial for the village as all of the land next to the train station would continue to be vacant. The best option would be to work out an amicable solution with the current tenants but, based on how events have unfolded so far, that may never happen.

For now, the businesses in the plaza are forced to wait and see what the village’s next steps will be. A buyout seems unlikely at this time and eminent domain would be too lengthy a process. One thing is for sure, neither side is willing to budge and it remains to be seen if the triangle redevelopment project will ever come to fruition.

“They’re looking at taking the retail that’s here and throwing us all out to the street so they can bring in somebody new,” Huff said. “I think the whole thing is ridiculous.”

Jeremy Stoltz, Staff Writer

Posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 (Archive on Monday, August 18, 2008)
Posted by jstoltz Contributed by jstoltz

Return