A 240,000-square-foot manufacturing and office building being proposed in Brookfield for an unnamed tenant could get a $225,000 development incentive from the city.
The development, codenamed Project Wild, is for a local manufacturer that employs around 150 people, according to a city report. The new building is being proposed for a vacant site in the Northbrook Commerce Center, at 21290 Gumina Road. Preliminary plans also show a potential 119,700-square-foot future expansion.
City staff did not name the user “due to needs for confidentiality.”
“Project Wild is a local manufacturer with a full-time staff of structural, mechanical and electrical design engineers that provide innovative, cost-effective and performance-proven products,” the report states.
Rizzo Development Group recently completed negotiations with the user to build the facility. Todd Rizzo of Rizzo Development declined to comment on the project.
The public incentive would come in the form of an economic development grant from Brookfield’s Community Development Authority. The CDA would take the money out of a reserve fund, which has a balance of $316,000. The city would not incur debt by issuing the grant.
It would only be issued once a build-to-suit and long-term lease agreements have been formally executed by Rizzo Development and the user. Such agreements are nearly finished, the city report states. The city will also require an invoice from Project Wild that the money has been spent on building construction.
CDA members will consider the incentive on Tuesday afternoon.
The city has already spent about $1.9 million to prepare the site for development. The money came from tax incremental financing, and was used on infrastructure and grading work to make the site shovel-ready.
Nothing has been built there to date. According to the city report, the only new property taxes in the TIF district have come through an increase in land value. As a result, the district is behind on paying off the debt associated with the prior site work. Project Wild “will greatly assist to return to a positive cash flow in retiring the city debt,” the report states.
