HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-10-2019 Advisory Task Force on Economic Development Agenda PacketAdvisory Task Force on Economic Development
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
7:30 AM
24401 W. Lockport Street
Plainfield, IL 60544
2nd Floor, Conference Room A
Agenda
A.CALL TO ORDER
B.ROLL CALL
C.PUBLIC COMMENTS
D.BUSINESS MEETING
D.1.Business Plan Update - Non-Residential Section
Business Plan Update Packet 4-10-19.pdf
D.2.Downtown Business Interview
D.3.Development Update
E.ADJOURN
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Agenda Item No:D.1
Advisory Task Force on Economic Development Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: April 10, 2019
Submitted by: Tracey Erickson
Submitting Department: Planning Department
Item Type: New Business Item
Agenda Section:
Subject:
Business Plan Update - Non-Residential Section
Suggested Action:
Attachments:
Business Plan Update Packet 4-10-19.pdf
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April 10, 2019
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE
VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD
24401 W. LOCKPORT ST.
2nd FLOOR, CONFERENCE ROOM A
SUBJECT: BUSINESS PLAN UPDATE
The Village approved the “Business Plan” in 2010 that implemented specific economic
development measures that would assist in providing a more business/development-
friendly environment. Some of those measures include: Eliminating local impact fees,
introducing new project review procedures for efficiencies, analyzing the land cash
values for residential development. The business plan also considers growth
management strategies for if/when residential development came back stronger and the
plan also provided a market analysis and strategies for staff and the village to take to
continue to move the commercial and industrial development forward, and what type of
users to recruit.
Over the past two years, the Advisory Task Force has analyzed different variables to
the business plan that includes, economic programming, residential impact fees,
incentive policy, and other such measures to provide an update to the business plan.
Through these conversations and the guidance of the Village Board through the joint
board discussions, staff has prepared a rough draft of a new economic development
strategy plan.
As previously suggested at the Advisory Task Force meeting, staff has split up the new
update into two sections to allow more time and focus to be spent on each. In January
2019, the Task Force provided input in regards to the intro and residential section of the
business plan update. Staff is now proposing the second section of the business plan
that consists of business recruitment and retention efforts. Staff has expanded on the
topics laid out in the original business plan while also providing some other
opportunities the Village may look to move forward on in due time.
Staff is seeking the Task Force’s input on the proposed draft. Attached is the former
business plan and the update rough draft with the exclusion of the residential portion.
Once each section is reviewed, Village staff will include any comments or suggestions
from the task force and present in July with the potential to bring to Committee of the
Whole the same month.
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MARKETING ANALYSIS
The Village retained the professional services of Buxton to carefully provide the Village with a profile of the shopping
patterns of the residents of this community. The goal of this project is to create a customer profile of the resident’s shopping
patterns within the Village’s trade area in order to identify those areas in which the Village can attract new retail and com-
mercial development. Buxton has over 4,500 retail matching profiles that could potentially locate in the Village depending
on the needs and profiles of the residents in this Village. Based on preliminary reports there are millions of dollars of retail
leakage from the Village. This means that a substantial amount of retail money is leaving the Village for other Village’s and
cities. Therefore, the goal of the Business Plan is to use the information formulated by the Buxton study to attract certain re-
tailers and commercial development to the Village. Staff recognized that it is critical that for the fiscal health of the Village
that the current 44% operation revenue that the Village receives from sales tax increase over time.
The way to accomplish this goal to attract new retailers to the Route 59, Route 30 and Ridge Road commercial corridors and
nodes. It is important that the commercial and shopping needs of the residents of the Village of Plainfield be met and the
completion of the Buxton study is the first step in this process. Once the study is complete the Village can proceed with a
careful and intelligent economic development program to attract new retail development. The key to creating a sustainable
fiscal environment is reducing the dependence on development and building fees and creating new corridors of commerce
throughout the Village. The Business Plan is the first step in this long-term process of recruiting new businesses to the Vil-
lage.
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Business Plan
Goal:
The goal of the business plan is to create an understanding of our strengths and weaknesses as it relates to business growth and
attraction, and develop strategies to position the Village with a competitive edge. Initially, the Business Plan will focus on Site
Plan and building permit processes (with a goal of reducing our turnaround time), Tax Incentives, Impact Fees, Land Use, and
recruitment/retention strategies.
Economic Development Priorities:
• Identify the business climate strengths and weaknesses,
• Detect as early as possible business expansion, contraction and closure plans which have a community wide impact,
• Focus on stabilizing and/or increasing job opportunities and economic growth,
• Promote effective communication between employers and Village leaders,
• Advance the contribution that corporate citizens make to the local economy.
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Retention Visits:
The well-being of the Village of Plainfield depends upon a healthy and growing economy. While it is important to attract new
employers and encourage others to start new firms in our community, it is central to our long-term economic health to recog-
nize that organic expansion and retention of existing corporate citizens serves as the foundation of any economic growth.
The focus of the retention visit is to identify the contributions, needs and perceptions of businesses in our community. By con-
verging on the strengths, opportunities, opportunities and threats of our corporate citizens, we can direct our resources more
effectively toward solving business problems and improving the business climate of our community.
Partnering with Will County Center for Economic Development and ComEd’s Synchronist business information system, the
preferred outcomes from the retention visits are:
• Detect as early as possible business expansion, contraction and closure plans which have a community wide impact,
• Focus on stabilizing and/or increasing job opportunities and economic growth,
• Identify strengths in the business climate,
• Identify weaknesses that need to be overcome,
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Recruitment Efforts:
The Village’s recruitment efforts take the form of two parallel tracks: Industry Focus and Retail Focus.
Industry Focus:
Partnering with Will County Center for Economic Development and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportu-
nity, the Village looks to attract, develop and encourage emerging sectors and “future growth” businesses to establish a presence
and/or expand in our community.
The Village will consider commercial incentives, and will facilitate partnerships, for businesses with NAICS Codes in the fol-
lowing industries:
• Beverage Manufacturing
• Medical Devices & Instruments
• Advanced Electronic & Control Systems
• Scientific Research and Development including Biotechnology
• Advanced Materials & Chemicals
• Alternative Energy/Green Technology
• Communications & Information Technology
• Military/Homeland Security
• Micro/Nanotechnology
• Robotics & Automation
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Recruitment Efforts:
Retail Focus:
The quality of life in a community is often measured in the convenience of having a retail market that meets the needs of the
community. As a result, the Village of Plainfield hired Buxton, an industry leader in consumer analytics. Using their Commu-
nityID retail economic development program, the Village can develop a strategy and plan of action for marketing our community
to retailers and developers. The results of the upcoming report will help the Village to target retailers and position itself to en-
courage a sustainable commercial presence.
Buxton recently completed its research on the Village’s trade area, with focused attention at three distinct and key retail areas
(Route 59 at 119th Street, Downtown Plainfield, and Route 30 at I-55). With the retail trade area for the Village in hand, Buxton
identified and analyzed the trade area across lifestyles, purchase behaviors, media reading and viewing habits, to create a psycho-
graphic profile of our community.
Buxton is currently using the results of the trade area study and the psychographic profile to match retailers and restaurants to the
Village’s market potential, and develop a marketing (pursuit) package for key targeted retailers.
The Village will consider commercial incentives, and will facilitate partnerships, for targeted retailers that are consistent with the
results of the Buxton report.
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Commercial Incentives:
The Village of Plainfield’s economic development priorities recognizes that Commercial Incentives can be employed as a tool to
promote the objectives of:
• Increasing employment opportunities,
• Diversifying and stabilizing the commercial base in the community,
• Encouraging targeted industrial expansion,
• Providing for improved public facilities in industrial areas,
• Encouraging an attractive, viable community.
Commercial Incentives will be considered by the Village Board on a case-by-case basis, after a business case is presented on the
merits of the proposed Incentive. Commercial Incentives include, but are not limited to:
• Sales tax sharing for targeted retailers, consistent with the results of the Buxton report,
• Property tax abatements, for targeted industries identified by NAICS Code,
• Capital investment for supporting public assets, such as roads, water system and sewer system improvements, that
promote and/or encourage the growth of targeted industries.
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Economic Development Advisory Commission:
In the 1990’s, the Village of Plainfield established, by ordinance, an economic development commission, whose goal it was to
“assist and advise the Village Board in the review and implementation of economic development efforts.” The role of the com-
mission changed over time, to serve more as a façade improvement review board, and eventually disbanded.
In light of the current economic environment, the Village Board might wish to reconvene the commission, with modifications:
The Commission is charged to:
• Advise on the implementation of the Plainfield Business Plan as adopted by the Village Board.
• Recommend updates or amendments to the Plan as deemed necessary.
• Provide input to the Board on the needs of local businesses and the available economic development opportuni-
ties/resources.
By seeking the input from key corporate leaders, the Village can glean a keen, first-person understanding of our strengths and
weaknesses as it relates to business growth and attraction, and use the input to further hone our strategies to position the Village
with a competitive edge.
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 12 | Page
Business & Industry Recruitment
The business attraction and recruitment efforts of the Village are guided by positively affecting
the overall quality of life through providing a convenience of the retail market and offerings from
that market. This is done through an industry gap and leakage analysis, the marketing of
targeted market areas, and the implementation of business recruitment strategies below.
The economic development staff of the Planning Division has and will continue to prepare a
retail analysis identifying industries where spending is leaving the village at a certain amount.
For instance, if a shoe store industry spending leakage is $1,250,000 in spending is leaving the
Village that may indicate a possibility of recruitment. However, this may also mean that regional
shoe store chains are just outside the Village limits located within a cannibalizing range not
allowing the Village to pursue those chains. It is important through this analysis to understand
the reality of the retail market so the community is educated in why a certain user or type of user
is not located in Plainfield, and also why they may not locate here in the future.
The sectors of business development and recruitment are split up into 4 main markets: Retail,
Industrial, Office, and Residential. Each has its own subsets and each can blend with one
another in various formats in mixed-use formats such as in downtown settings or in flex zoning
situations where intense commercial users can blend with light industrial uses. Each industry
has its own characteristics in recruitment and how they assess a new location, so it is important
to analyze each individually in the following sections.
Section 1. Targeted Industries – Retail, Hospitality, Industrial
The below are potential sectors of each industry for recruitment purposes. It is important to
note, specifically for retail/commercial, that recruitment for these industries or specific users
could vary throughout the Village. There are numerous factors for this variation from user trade
areas and cannibalization, traffic count requirements, or population statistics requirements such
as median household income, trade area density, education.
Retail Market & Opportunities
The suburban commercial market continues to be “soft” since the recession for most ground
up/greenfield development with the primary development activity in outlot development or infill
redevelopment. Below is a summary of the Plainfield/suburban market trends and summary of
the retail market as a whole:
A. Outlots and smaller commercial development continue to be the development trend in
the suburbs – highlighting those outlot opportunities will best short- term approach to
recruitment.
B. The junior/medium box retail spectrum has an uncertainty weighted to it due to the retail
fluctuation still taking place from the recession/online retail.
C. Grocery continues to be the strongest ground-up development sector for medium to
large box retail, but still growing at a slower pace.
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 13 | Page
D. Retail space in Downtown Plainfield continues to be in demand with limited spaces
available bringing a need for infill development is warranted.
E. Village Center/Downtown Extended area has a lack of density coupled with lesser traffic.
F. The regional marketplace is very competitive due to two highly successful regional
commercial nodes that surround the Village – the Joliet Louis Mall area and the
Westfield Mall at Ogden and IL Route 59. Other sub-regional competitive nodes include:
Naperville’s 95th & IL Route 59, Shorewood’s/Joliet’s Black Road & 59 area, Oswego’s
U.S. 34 Corridor, and Bolingbrook’s
The current targeted retailer industries that have been identified by the Village through the ESRI
Retail Market Potential index leakage reports and Village feedback include:
• Sporting Goods
• Specialty Grocer
• Restaurants
• Apparel
Other opportunities that may exist in accordance with the spending index may also include:
• Electronics
• Furniture
• Auto dealerships
Hotel Recruitment
The accommodations hospitality industry is currently another industry that is not present in the
village. Plainfield’s businesses and industries that generate “stays” and room occupancy send
the majority of their visitors over 20 minutes away to a higher end/3 star hotel that is not found in
the area. Village staff identified this gap through business retention interviews and sought out
potential hotel developers. Staff received feedback from interested parties that a boutique type
hotel may be possible and that this possibility warranted the need for a feasibility study.
A hotel feasibility study was completed in May of 2018 identifying the need for a 3-star, 100
room hotel to be located in the downtown area and providing the necessary data to illustrate
this. Since the completion of the study, Village staff’s recruitment efforts have found interest
from this industry for multiple hotel sites.
Entertainment
Movie Theater – this industry currently does not exist in the village and there is a gap between
the Joliet Cinemark and Naperville AMC. A movie theater helps add to the entertainment
options in the Village creating a synergy between the Village’s burgeoning restaurant scene and
nightlife. A movie theater can potentially bring 400,000 – 600,000 people to a location and it
can be assumed that a percentage of those patrons are outside of the Village. Village staff’s
recruitment efforts have found interest from this industry.
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 14 | Page
Banquet Hall – The village currently has one existing banquet/reception hall, Warehouse 109,
which has shown through its success the need for such facilities in the area. While 109 has
helped fill a void, their capacity is limited in size leaving more opportunity for facilities that can
accommodate larger receptions over 200 people.
Music Venue – live music venues provide an artistic outlet in the community while also serving
as a draw to the local area for visitors that may have otherwise not come.
Industrial & Office Focus
The previous Village business plans identified the below industries that would be considered
targeted industries and these industries still hold true today.
• Beverage/Food Manufacturing
• Medical Devices & Instruments
• Advanced Electronic & Control Systems
• Scientific Research and Development including Biotechnology (Life Science)
• Advanced Materials & Chemicals
• Alternative Energy/Green Technology
• Communications & Information Technology
• Military/Homeland Security
The Will County Center for Economic Development (CED) current primary focus of industry
recruitment is in four broader categories including: Manufacturing, Transportation Logistics,
Food, and Energy.
With the recent implementation of Metronet’s gigabit broadband infrastructure and Comcast’s
upgrading response to this implementation, the Village has positioned itself to be a more
attractive location for many of these industries, specifically tech driven and military/homeland
security complexes. That said, it should be noted that in order to effectively recruit tech driven
companies, these industries require a certain type of housing in their location that allows them
to recruit the right type of workforce. As the Urban Land Institute’s High Density Development
report states,
“Another emerging body of research suggests that higher-density development is
an important component of economic development initiatives and helps attract
new employers. “Information economy” is a term used to define the growing
industries based on the economics of the Internet, information goods, and
intellectual property. Workers in this field are known as “knowledge workers,” and
many believe they are the future of the American economy. These workers are
comfortable with the latest technology and, because their skills are transferable,
choose their jobs”
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 15 | Page
A quick search of tech companies in the Illinois area will undoubtedly illustrate a
cluster in the Chicago market. These companies have purposely placed themselves in
the urban setting that provides a certain type of lifestyle and amenity that their talent
recruitment would be looking for.
Office Development & Opportunities
A. The development of new office is limited in the suburbs.
B. Office space absorption is low in the suburbs – plentiful stock still available in Village.
C. Paradigm shift for corporate offices back to downtown Chicago.
D. Tech start-ups prefer to be in urban settings (younger population).
E. Suburban office development’s future is questionable and remains to be unseen.
Industrial Development & Opportunities
A. Manufacturing industry is very selective in its criteria with skilled labor being a primary
recruitment necessity and an issue for the southwest suburb area.
B. Interstate 55 corridor as the industry continues to expand.
C. The Depot Drive P3 with Northern Builders, Inc. presents a recruitment and development
incentive to spur development of small/mid-sized Class A units of 15,000SF to 25,000SF
that is difficult to find in this area.
D. Continued business/industry retention surveying.
E. Utilization and promotion of the Will County Workforce Development training grants.
F. Resolving the transportation issues through the continued pursuit and support of the
143rd Street extension and other infrastructure improvements.
G. Promotion of the gigabit broadband access to data center and tech industries.
H. Expansion of housing options in select areas for entry-level workforce.
1. Major Retail Development Opportunities
The following are what would be considered the most prime commercial opportunities in the
Village for development. These properties are considered the best opportunities in the Village
due to their geographic positioning, build ready status, demographics and/or the ability to spur
ancillary/outlot development.
A. NEC 119th Street & IL Route 59
B. Prairie Creek Development
C. Village Center Area – Downtown Extended
D. The Boulevard – Interstate 55 & U.S. 30
NEC 119th Street & IL Route 59 – Retail/Commercial/Residential
This ~36 acre property is currently in unincorporated Will County and was previously proposed
as an open-air/lifestyle center mall area called the “Shops at the Polo Club” prior to the
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 16 | Page
recession. Due to significant changes in
retail, the proposed plan is not conducive
with the current marketplace and future
proposed development will presumably
be of a more traditional sense.
The scale of this property is also a very
large retail concept and the competitive
regional marketplace may make it
difficult in today’s commercial landscape
– for reference – the Kohl’s shopping
center is ~17 acres & the Target
shopping center is ~19 acres. This
should be taken into consideration when
future plans are being proposed for the
subject property with a dependency on
the size of the primary anchor, which can
range from 70,000 SF to 250,000 SF.
Prairie Creek Development – Retail/Commercial
The Prairie Creek Development is a 100 acre project with ~27 acres of commercial property
fronting IL Route 59 and a ~73 acre property to the east that was previously proposed for a
multi-family townhome development. The development is connected to the Meijer development
via an access drive to the south
and north of Chicago Bridge and
Iron. The development had been
in receivership and bank-owned
coming out of the recession with
a private investor purchasing the
development in January of 2016.
The commercial area was
previously proposed as a lifestyle
center and similar to the Shops
at the Polo Club proposal it is not
conducive to today’s
marketplace. The property is now being marketed for a traditional outlot and medium box
anchor plan. Over 12 of the 27 acres in the commercial area are available for development with
7.5 acres representing the junior/medium box retail and 4.6 acres of outlot availability. This
development is one of the few build-ready development opportunities that are still available.
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 17 | Page
The junior/medium retail box development in the suburbs has little traction and proven difficult to
attract. Compounded on this difficulty is the desire for many outlot developers to have an
anchor behind them. Village staff has attracted a 58,000 SF entertainment user to the 7.5 AC
area and are awaiting land negotiations.
Village Center Area – Downtown Extended
The Village Center/Downtown Extended area is from the Dupage River west to the Wallin Drive
intersection. This area started to see movement pre-recession with the development of Town
Square, Van Dyke Place, First Midwest Bank, Village Hall and the entitlement of a large-scale
mixed use development called the Village Center (Wallin Woods Mixed-Use Development)
between Wallin Drive and Van Dyke.
In the post-recession area, much of the
land still sits vacant with the majority
independent retailers wanting to be in
Historic Downtown or corporate/chain
retailers wanting to be on IL Route 59
(north corridor).
From a recruitment perspective, this
area is caught between two worlds – a
walkable downtown area and a highway
corridor. It is too highway oriented right
now for the majority independent
restaurants and retailers that would
rather locate in the walkable downtown
area and it does not have high enough
highway traffic counts for highway-
oriented chains – with both end-users desiring and needing more density.
The Village has seen a new clothing boutique locate in this area giving some hope that the retail
progression will move west; however, from most conversations with businesses the preference
continues to be the traditional downtown area. Until the reroute of Route 126 is completed, this
area may continue in this limbo status or until a project of magnitude or scale can jumpstart the
development.
The Downtown TIF district extends through this area on the north side of Route 126/Lockport
Street to Van Dyke Road. The Village is seeking a large investment into this area that will be a
catalyst for other development. Due to the nature of this area as stated above, the utilization of
the incentive policy may be necessary to recruit a user that will spur more development.
The Boulevard (NWC I55 & US 30)
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 18 | Page
The Village of Plainfield has one full interchange servicing its community at Interstate 55 & U.S.
Route 30. The project area commonly known as the Boulevard sits at the NWC corner of this
interchange. Over 73 acres represents Plainfield’s commercial opportunity that has been master
planned for a potential 300,000 – 400,000 SF of retail.
The proposed amount of retail in the master plan
below may not be suitable for today’s retail
climate. Still, establishing a major anchor of
approximately 120,000 square foot or more to
this project is essential to this project. First, it is
a necessary justification for any developer to
provide the level of infrastructure that will be
required for the project. Second, this required
infrastructure and draw from a regional anchor
will stimulate the project area for smaller end
users that would not otherwise justify the
required project infrastructure construction and
provide a regional draw to the project.
The adjacency of this project to other already successful commercial areas such as the Joliet
Louis Mall area, as well as this area being located in direct proximity with competitive, similar
projects such as the Rock Run Crossings at I80 & I55 create difficulties in development
opportunities. A lifestyle center developer stated to village staff, “the economics are simply not
there for a lifestyle center at this location, and rare right now in the nation as a whole –combine
that with the shadow of the mall area and it makes it even more difficult”.
With that, Village staff has identified two potential anchors for the site with one anchor
continuing its pursuit and due diligence in 2019 in the hopes for a late 2020/early 2021 opening.
2. Targeted Industrial Market Areas
U.S. 30 Lincoln Highway North/143rd Street Industrial Corridor
The creation of jobs and expansion of the industrial base is a top priority of the Village. The
U.S. 30/143rd Street corridor is an established industrial corridor with growing companies such
as Diageo, Logoplaste, and Entec Polymers/Ravago in the subject area. This corridor has
abundant area for possible expansion, which is called out in the future land use plan. The 143rd
Street extensions have been identified as a need by the major private employers of the Village.
Industrial brokerage has also identified the need for these extensions stating that without them it
may be difficult to attract more users who would look for more direct access to I-55/I-80. The
Village continues to pursue both the 143rd Street west and east extension establishing
intergovernmental agreements to complete the west extension by late 2020/early 2021 and to
begin construction on the east extension by 2023.
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 19 | Page
3. Key Market Areas & Retail Opportunities
While the major retail development areas have been identified as the prime opportunities for
development in the Village, this does not mean that other areas of the Village are of less
importance, but rather different recruitment efforts are focused on each area. The following are
other key market areas that offer potential redevelopment or development opportunities and are
part of the Village business recruitment strategic efforts:
Historic Downtown Plainfield
The Historic Downtown area is the main central business district of the community. The
streetscape improvements revitalized the downtown bringing in new development and business
opportunities. These opportunities continue to expand today with the old fire station being
purchased and renovated in 2016/2017, the Trolley Barn seeing over $1 million in façade
improvements with a new lease for all 12,000 SF of retail space, and an addition to the Opera
House building with a new high-end restaurant.
Business recruitment remains strong in the Downtown area with limited vacancies available in
the downtown. From 2016 to 2019, the downtown has added a coffee shop, ice cream shop, a
new BBQ smokehouse, a brewery opening in 2019, a new wood-fired pizza restaurant, and a
high-end steak and seafood restaurant. More business continue to be attracted to the
downtown and finding locations that corresponds with space needs is proving difficult.
Development opportunities still exist in downtown such as the SWC of Lockport Street and IL
Route 59, which is one of the better retail properties in the Village. There are other possible
infill opportunities as well that staff will continue to explore; however, land and labor costs hinder
any speculative development. Often times during recruitment a business is looking to locate
within a certain timeframe, for a certain sized space, certain location (i.e. “on the main drag”)
and open their stores at specific moments of the year not allowing for the time necessary for
new construction. This creates a “chicken before the egg” scenario where a builder doesn’t
want to build speculative hoping to find a future tenant and a new business isn’t willing to wait
for new construction. This could potentially lead to missed business opportunities. Staff will
continue to evaluate solutions to these new construction opportunities.
IL Route 59 South Corridor
The IL Route 59 South Corridor is an area identified from Fort Beggs & IL Route 59 south to the
Dupage River. Commercial development activity in this area is and will be limited due to the
activity of the north corridor and its competition regionally with the mall area, Plainfield’s
Boulevard opportunity, and the commercial area from Caton south to Black on IL Route 59.
There are small opportunities and medical/office development has been successful in this area,
and the Vintage Harvest mall on IL Route 59 has been at 90% occupancy for over multiple
years. Staff will look to build off these successes to create other opportunities as the
development market is fully stabilized from the recession. In reference to this corridor, a broker
for a regional furniture retailer stated, “no one wants to be the first.”
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 20 | Page
Menard’s In-Line Opportunity
The Menard’s In-Line opportunity is a 10.35 acres adjacent that is in-line with the Menard’s
superstore at 135th & IL Route 59 and the new Planet Fitness that occupied the 20,515 SF
vacant Staples building. As stated previously in this plan, the medium box market is currently
“soft” in the suburban market and corporate land holdings can also complicate contract
negotiations.
U.S. Route 30 South Corridor In-Fill Redevelopment (Renwick to Spangler)
This subject area is one of the oldest highway commercial districts in Plainfield and because of
this it is in need of redevelopment and reinvestment. The Village of Plainfield Board approved
the U.S. Route 30 TIF District in the 2018 creating an economic development tool to assist in
brining change to this corridor. With the widening of U.S. Route 30 in this area to alleviate traffic
congestion, this area could begin to see more interest from the development community as
infrastructure and new development comes into place.
The redevelopment of this blighted area will need assistance due the added costs of demolition,
infrastructure improvements, property acquisition and assemblage, and other additional issues
incurred by redevelopment projects. The TIF District will be greatly beneficial to these efforts
providing a much-needed mechanism to spur these needed changes.
U.S. Route 30 North Corridor (127th to 143rd)
The U.S. Route 30 commercial area between 127th and 143rd has good potential but its success
is directly related to development growth, both residentially and industrially in the adjacent
areas. The development community has stated that the demographics are good in this area;
however there isn’t enough concentration of commercial, residential or industrial, and future
development will still focus on the main traffic producers such as IL Route 59 in the
marketplace’s current state.
The extension of 143rd Street and the eventual traffic pattern adjustment will provide a
development boost to this area. The Crossroads Business Center at 143rd Street & Wallin has
also been assumed by a development group who is actively marketing the development which
has helped garner new interest to this area. As these recruitment efforts continue, economic
development staff will pursue possible highway commercial users, such as fast food
restaurants, but much of the attention still lies with IL Route 59.
Section 5: Recruitment Strategies
Approximately 44% of the Village’s current operation revenue is received from sales tax
generated in the community, so it is imperative to Plainfield’s fiscal health that we continue to
expand our commercial base and increase the Village’s sales tax revenue over time. And while
sales tax is important to the Village, our industrial base is equally important to provide local
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Plainfield Economic Development Strategy 21 | Page
employment that will help sustain and diversify the Village’s tax base. In order to accomplish
this, the following strategies and activities will be implemented to continue these efforts.
1. Market Gap Analysis, Site Location & Understanding the Market
The Village economic development staff utilizes the following methods to determine which
retailers/businesses to target to allow for efficient and effective marketing to the industries that
would be most likely to locate in Plainfield.
A. Retailer gap analysis – who is located here, who is not, where are those that aren’t, who
is expanding?
B. Next step after a potential retailer is found is to identify of each retailers’ site selection
criteria – each retailer will have different criteria that may include:
(1) Site attributes (visibility, location in trade area, parking, access, activity, VPD)
(2) Competition of trade area
(3) Cannibalization of existing stores
(4) Local regulations (liquor license, area hours of operation, permitting)
(5) Demographic criteria (median income levels, densities, workforce/daytime
population)
(6) Retail Market Potential Index – retail leakage
(7) Type of commercial needed (neighborhood, power centers, regional centers)
C. Compare/contrast demographics retailers’ requirements with their existing locations
versus Plainfield site locations through the utilization of GIS/ESRI business analytics.
This allows staff to first identify where the Village’s strong points are and where the
Village may be weak in their site selection criteria allows staff to be ahead of any
potential issues during recruitment and to focus attention to those strengths.
2. Data & Resources
A. Ensure up-to-date demographic and retail data is provided and accessible of all major
intersections in the Village utilizing a geographic distance and drive time distance.
B. Updating and promoting Plainfield Development website with current economic
development data and projects that are upcoming and on-going.
C. Tracking the Village’s inventory of available sites through LOIS utilized by the Illinois
Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity for finding industrial sites.
D. Create marketing materials for targeted market areas to utilize at ICSC and other events.
E. Provide retailers with recruitment packages customized to their informational needs.
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3. Marketing and Contact Tracking
A. Create a database of retailers that you have been in contact with (determined earlier in
this section). Update this database with comments from every conversation had.
B. Remain current of the retailer’s property requirements knowing their site location needs.
C. Contact the retailers/tenant brokers periodically to let them know of new property,
demographic or community developments they may be interested in.
D. Keep the Village in front of retailers’ “faces” so that when they are ready to move, your
community will be in the forefront of their minds.
E. Produce marketing materials for the Village and targeted market areas to utilize at ICSC
and when communicating with the businesses, brokers and developers.
Section 6: Incentive Policy
The new incentive policy below was reviewed by the Board in February 2018 to allow Village
staff the opportunity to amend any items as necessary. The incentive policy previously
established provided detailed and specific criteria that in the newer retail market of downsizing
footprints may be too restrictive and not conducive to a project that could provide benefits to the
Village and a targeted development area.
Instead, the proposed incentive policy will be more fluid to allow for the policy to flex with the
ever-changing commercial and industrial landscape. The below incentive policy is based off of
the review of an economic gap analysis, or “but for” review of a proposed project. Through this,
the Village can determine the benefits of the project on a broader, more qualitative scale while
calculating the necessary improvements that are needed for the project to move forward along
with the quantitative intangibles of the project. This will allow the Village to utilize incentives for
business attraction and/or offsetting development costs that would prohibit the construction of
the project but for the incentives provided.
1. Guidelines
A. The Village may approve incentive requests that include grants, local sales tax revenue
sharing, fee waivers (see 1.B.), infrastructure improvements, and property tax rebates.
B. The following fees or charges will not be waived: private recapture fees, fees from other
taxing districts, or Village consultant review/pass through fees.
C. The proposed project must pass a “but for” test by proving the incentive is necessary for
the project to move forward.
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D. A proforma and/or a detailed financial statement indicating the reason for the incentive
request and proving the profitability/capital gap analysis.
E. The project must be in conformance with any standards or plans associated with the
project area, i.e. design guidelines, comprehensive plan, historic preservation, etc.
F. Incentives for adult uses, home occupations, and financial institutions are not allowed.
G. The Village will review all proposals on a case by case basis and in no event will prior
economic inventive agreements or policies dictate the content of subsequent
agreements.
H. The terms and conditions of the incentive shall be incorporated into an agreement
approved by the Village Board of Trustees. An agreement must be approved prior to the
construction of any improvement that is receiving financial assistance.
I. Targeted market areas and industries established in this plan will be given priority for
incentives.
J. Infrastructure improvements that enhance the project and the subject area will be
reviewed with more favor as a justification for an incentive agreement.
2. Application Submittal Requirements
All applicants must fill out an incentive application submitted to the Planning Department with
the following applicable information:
A. Documentation requested by the above guidelines indicating this policy has been
followed, i.e. development pro-forma, job production, etc.
B. Amount of the total (all-in) investment by the applicant.
C. The type of incentive requested and the amount.
D. A formal business plan indicating the project’s expenses, revenues, marketing strategies
and other pertinent information to your business.
E. The proposed project’s design package including architectural elevations/renderings,
site plan and landscape plans.
F. The Village may require additional information and documentation if deemed necessary
including financial statements.
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3. Evaluation Criteria
The review of the application will be evaluated based up the following criteria. A project does
not need to meet all criteria or perform at a high-level in each field, as each criterion can hold its
own qualitative weight on a case-by-case basis.
A. Level of benefit to the Village and other taxing bodies. (taxes, infrastructure, etc.)
B. Level of circumstances with the property or building characteristics that create
challenges or impediments to the development/redevelopment of the project area.
C. Number and quality of jobs produced.
D. The applicant’s ability to identify the necessity for financial assistance and the “but for”.
E. The project’s ability to spur additional economic development within the Village and
adjacent project area.
F. Level of applicant’s ability to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed project
based upon past experience, general reputation, creditworthiness and financial strength.
G. Conformity with Village codes, guidelines, and planning documents.
Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E)
The BR&E economic development strategy of the Village focuses on the retention and
expansion of existing businesses to assist them in navigating today’s global economy, while
businesses provide the community with a visual of the local economy. Business retention
activities identify key factors that may be helping or hindering a business’ growth and give a
community the opportunity to either help a business grow/expand or stave off/anticipate a
possible dissolution or closing of a business.
A BR&E strategy’s importance is evident in local economic statistics that illustrate 80% of job
creation comes from the expansion of existing businesses. A program and strategy such as
below is also a great tool to identify the strengths and weaknesses of community and region,
which then allows a community to promote and market their strengths while addressing their
weaknesses head on.
1. BR&E Program Objectives
• To demonstrate support for local businesses
• To help solve immediate business concerns
• To increase local businesses’ ability to compete in the global economy
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• To establish and implement a strategic plan for economic development
• To build community capacity to sustain growth and development
2. BR&E Activities
Retention Interviews
• Identify issues the business may be encountering, i.e. energy shortcomings,
transportation, capacity, workforce training.
• Assist the business in overcoming issues through follow up.
• Discover possible expansion opportunities and measures to facilitate.
• Build relationships with local businesses – recruitment assistance – businesses looking
to locate in the community often speak with other businesses already existing.
• The utilization of the synchronist interview form developed by the Creating Opportunities
for Retention & Expansion (CORE) program through the state of Illinois.
• Synchronist training for task force members through the CED’s training programs.
Small Business Surveying
• Unable to effectively cover all small businesses in Plainfield in a reasonable amount of
time.
• Anonymous surveying provides the village with data and unwavering comments that
may be held back in an interview process.
• Easier tabulation for staff efficiencies.
Shop Local Campaigning
• Creating a logo to be universally used by the Chamber,
the Village and local businesses – Shop Plainfield, Buy-In
Plainfield, etc.
• Promote Small Business Saturday each year and create a
new event to help promote.
• Work with local businesses to create a committee that can
help drive this initiative and others such as a restaurant
week, cook-off events, etc.
3. Business Advancement Education
• Will County CED connects businesses with educational seminars/workshops
• Provide small business tips via the website.
• Utilize and promote SCORE and other business assistance programs in the region.
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Opportunities for the Future
As in any industry, not everything of a strategy plan can be done overnight. Sometimes it
simply may not be the right time for certain measures and could take a year or 5 years to
implement, but below are some opportunities the Village may be able to take in the future that
will help strengthen its weaknesses when the appropriate time presents itself.
Section 1: Marketing Plan
The Small Business Administration recommends a business spend 7 to 8 percent of its gross
revenue for marketing and advertising if it does less than $5 million a year in sales and your net
profit margin — after all expenses — is in the 10 percent to 12 percent range.
For example purposes only – if the village based the above “gross revenue” simply off of sales
tax revenue alone (generally around $22.4 million), the Village would be allocating over $1.5 -
$2.2 million to marketing expenditures following the same model as above.
Obviously, the dynamics of a government entity and small businesses or fortune 500 companies
are very different, and a government does not have the same needs as a business in terms of
marketing, but some marketing similarities do transcend to the government world, such as the
following:
A. Competition
Whether it is a local, regional, or state level –
governments are all competing in the efforts
to expand its tax base. It may be for tourists,
or to bring about more residential growth or
to create jobs, but the competition is real and
even aggressive, as seen in the Indiana
billboard to the right.
B. Brand/identity
Vision is the most dominant sense and first impressions last the longest, which is why
branding and identity of the Village is important. It is not the “logo” per say that is most
important – although remaining current is needed – it is the consistency of the branding
and identity throughout the marketing platform from signage to letterheads to videos and
posters. Many communities have completed branding exercises updating their monikers
and platforms of presentation, i.e. new websites, marketing brands, promotional
websites.
C. Identifying your market
While the brand and identity are important, knowing who you are marketing those
materials and platforms too is the most important. The Village would first need to
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understand who they want to market to and why. Is it to younger families that are
expanding and growing, but want more affordable housing with a community that has
Plainfield’s amenities? Is it marketing directly to businesses and industries?
As previously mentioned, the Village of Plainfield has many great amenities to offer its residents
and visitors. From the many community events that take place, Plainfield’s Pace commuting
option, to its recreation opportunities and historic downtown – these different offerings could go
unnoticed by those contemplating a move whether it is for a new home or a new business
location or both. By ensuring the village’s assets are widely shared and marketed, the village
will be able to set itself apart from its competing markets.
Section 2: Downtown Website
Through many of the different strategic planning sessions, the main amenity and what residents
are most proud of in Plainfield is the historic downtown area. Rightfully so, it is a beautiful,
walkable downtown area with great dining and small shops that provides an entertainment draw
to the region. But what is difficult to hear from a newcomer is, “I had no idea it was this nice”
when visiting Downtown.
A downtown website is not uncommon for many communities with established downtown
markets, including communities like Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Joliet, and St. Charles. The
usefulness of such a tool can be advantageous in many ways including:
• Tourist website promoting the downtown and its amenities to those unfamiliar.
• Marketing tool for business/development/residential expansion – helps paint the picture.
• Acts as support mechanism to downtown businesses, i.e. retention efforts.
• Central promotion platform for downtown special events and riverfront.
• Utility purposes guiding visitors to public parking areas that is mobile device friendly.
The Village has added over 10,000 more square feet of new retail/restaurant space in 2018 and
the Trolley Barn project will add an additional 12,000 SF once fully built out. This large addition
and the new openings of 2016 represent strong growth in the downtown and a progression of
things to come. In order to spring board off of these improvements and downtown additions, an
information outlet is necessary to help relay that message and the excitement and energy
projects such as these bring to the downtown.
It is recommended that the Village work with the downtown business and the chamber of
commerce to identify a funding source and maintenance mechanism to properly launch a
downtown Plainfield website.
Section 3: New Development Districts
A development or incentive business district provides a municipality with the opportunity to
collect and allocate funds for an area that is in need of additional assistance to
improve/maintain/implement needed infrastructure and/or redevelop/develop that district area.
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The village of Plainfield’s only district to date is the Downtown TIF district. This TIF has been
utilized to improve the infrastructure of the downtown and has provided funding for a façade
assistance grant program that has improved and updated many of the historic buildings of the
district.
A. Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) – a business improvement district is an
economic tool that is established by the community and local businesses of a specific area
to provide funding for special events, maintenance, grants, marketing and the like. It is
typically established by a community, and the businesses of that district form a committee to
manage the funds alongside the community.
B. Warehouse District TIF/BID/SSA – The area just east of the Route 59 along Route
126/Plainfield-Naperville Road/Center St. is another area of possible interest in terms of a
new development district. With some investment already completed in the area at the SEC
of IL 59 & IL 126, the Riverview Office Center and Harbour Contractors office building, the
Warehouse District has the potential to become
another stand-alone and unique business district.
Prohibitive expenses, development constraints, and
traffic/road improvements create difficulties to
progress this district into a cohesive, well-connected
neighborhood that is walkable and inviting for
developers to invest, businesses to locate here and
more people to reside and invest in new homes. As
an example for this area, the grainery, which stands
nearly 100 feet tall, would be nearly as expensive to
tear down than it would to redevelop due to its height, proximity to the railroad and structural
thickness.
Section 4: Economic Programming & Grants
Economic programming is a way for municipalities to attack the weaknesses or threats their
community may be experiencing and to offset the overly burdensome private investment that
may be required to do so. W hy the need for economic programming or grants?
A. Some weaknesses are more widespread and not “district” oriented.
B. Grant programming illustrates the village’s strong desire to be an aggressive recruiter of
targeted businesses and industries.
C. Upfront capital expenses are one of the most common prohibitive measures to business
entrepreneurship.
Below are possible economic programs the village could consider when the timing is right
financially to implement. If the village decided to move forward with programming, it is
suggested that the Economic Advisory Task Force be considered as a recommending body to
the Village Board for the review of programming applications.
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A. Retail Business Grant Program – A program that provides retail shopping businesses in a
select area an upfront grant, typically $5,000 - $10,000 maximum with a 50/50 match and
reimbursement, for qualified expenditures such as space build-out, furniture-fixtures-
equipment (FFE), licensed architect fees, and the like. This grant may be designated in
areas the village considers in need of assistance to garner business attraction. Funding of
the program may also be dependent on how many employees are being hired. Other
qualifiers, such as a minimum production of tax production, may be required.
B. Revolving Loan Fund - A revolving loan fund program offers low interest loans to Village
businesses to locate or expand their footprint. As financial assistance projects are repaid,
the communities place the moneys in locally administered Revolving Funds (RFs) that can
be used to fund future economic development opportunities within each community.
Administration of such grants may be time consuming and incurring some consulting cost in
terms of loan review, processing, and credit analysis.
C. Business Lease/Rent Subsidy Program – This would provide initial relief to a business in the
first year often the most difficult time for a business. The program can be for a select area
and for select or targeted industries if desired by the Village. Landlords can be approached
to provide a match or additional subsidy by entering into an agreement with the village to do
so.
By working with the Historic Preservation Committee’s designations of “contributing
properties” map and establishing proper design guidelines to work from, this beautiful
neighborhood could see the reinvestment it needs. A recent teardown/rebuild of a smaller
home to a standard four bedroom home saw a near $5,000 increase in property taxes. The
injection of new EAV will strengthen the neighboring lots and create an even stronger,
sought after residential neighborhood.
D. Special Service Area – SSAs levy an additional property tax within the district whereby the
corporate authorities of the municipality or county shall be the governing body of the special
service area. The SSA is a contiguous district of business/property owners who tax
themselves to fund certain improvements. Examples of what SSAs are commonly used for
include: sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal, security, marketing, streetscaping, and special
events.
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Agenda Item No:D.2
Advisory Task Force on Economic Development Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: April 10, 2019
Submitted by: Tracey Erickson
Submitting Department: Planning Department
Item Type: New Business Item
Agenda Section:
Subject:
Downtown Business Interview
Suggested Action:
Attachments:
29
Agenda Item No:D.3
Advisory Task Force on Economic Development Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: April 10, 2019
Submitted by: Tracey Erickson
Submitting Department: Planning Department
Item Type: New Business Item
Agenda Section:
Subject:
Development Update
Suggested Action:
Attachments:
30