By Marney Simon | Bugle Staff
Looking to jump start growth at the old Silver Cross hospital site, the city of Joliet will take a deeper look at designating the area for a tax increment financing (TIF) district.
On Oct. 3, the city’s Economic Development Committee met to discuss the possibly of creating a TIF district at the site, which was vacated six years ago. The hospital at Route 6 and Walnut became vacant when the new Silver Cross campus opened in New Lenox in 2012. Since then, parts of the old building have found new life, most notably the conversion of the old emergency room to a VA outpatient clinic.
But, much of the 98.8-acre site has been razed and slated for mixed use zoning. But, finding someone interested in building on the site has been elusive.
The city contracted with S.B. Friedman to conduct an eligibility study of the area for a possible TIF district.
TIF is a financing tool that uses local taxes to help pay for improvements. A district works by essentially “freezing” property taxes paid out to local taxing districts at the current rate. As those taxes rise each year, the extra money – the increment – is funneled into the TIF fund and can then be used for infrastructure and redevelopment plans. A TIF district is limited by law to 23 years, with the possibility to apply for a 12-year extension after that time.
The eligibility study showed that the site, which consists of 44 parcels and 21 primary buildings, are eligible for designation as a “conservation area” per TIF. A conservation area is land that is not yet blighted but is trending toward blight.
Conservation designation means the land does not have any industrial, commercial or residential uses, and has had no agricultural uses over the past five years.
The study showed the area has suffered from a lack of growth, deterioration, presence of structures below minimum standards, inadequate utilities, and lack of community planning.
Deterioration was one of the biggest factors per the eligibility study, with deterioration found to be present to a meaningful extent throughout the area. The eligibility study concluded that the old Silver Cross site shows physical deterioration on 34 of 44 parcels, with the most common form seen as surface issues.
Partial shells of the old hospital also still exist on the site. Fifteen of 21 structures within the proposed TIF district are not up to current building codes
Estimated project costs to redevelop the area would total around $40 million.
The study revealed that “but for the designation of a TIF district, these [redevelopment] projects would be unlikely to occur on their own.”
The proposed TIF boundary includes Maple Road at the north, Briggs along the east, and Copperfield, Lambert and Elgin Avenues to the south.
Proposed future land use is commercial, residential, public/private institutional, parks and open space, and community facilities.
The eligibility study will now move before the full city council for review. Should the council wish to move forward, a joint review board of overlapping taxing districts will be formed. A meeting of that board will be followed by a public hearing before the area can be designated as a TIF district.