A complete understanding of the financial impact of the Deerbrook Mall renovation on Deerfield is the reason it could take the Village as long as three months from the initial presentation by the shopping center owners to arrive at an agreement.
The original proposal made to the Board of Trustees June 18 asked for forms of sales tax assistance to help shopping center owner Gateway Fairview offset $16 million of the estimated $26 million cost of redevelopment.
Earlier: Village Continues Negotiations With Deerbrook
The two-pronged proposal called for recoupment of $10 million from a sales tax sharing agreement and $6 million from an additional one percent sales tax from the project’s first phase which would apply only to the shopping center and no other businesses in Deerfield.
“We don’t want to create the impression this is going to be in effect everywhere in the Village,” Village Manager Kent Street said. “There was some concern people might not shop (because of the additional tax) and then not go to other stores (outside Deerbrook) as well.”
An additional $10 million will come from a sales tax sharing arrangement allowing the owners to keep 75 percent of all sales tax generated up to $10 million in excess of the average collected for the 12-month period ending April 30, according to a draft of the agreement proposed to the Village.
The potential revenue for this part of the recoupment will also come from all goods and services subject to sales tax at Deerbrook. This is one of the reasons Street is taking a cautious approach.
“We want to make sure we are doing the right thing,” Street said. “Anything that affects the Village’s revenue we take very seriously.” Street and his staff are working closely with financial advisors Kane, McKenna to make sure the numbers are precise. “There is a difference between actual costs and estimates.”
When the proposal was first made, Trustees William Seiden and Alan Farkas objected prompting Mayor Harriet Rosenthal to postpone the discussion while more information was gathered. It was important then and still is that there is consensus.
“There are a lot of details to be looked at,” Rosenthal said. “We want to know what this means for the Village and Deerbook in the long term.”
The first segment of the project envisions relocating T.J. Maxx to a spot between the current Jewel and Office Max with Starbucks moving to a free standing location. The developer would ultimately recover all cost of the initial portion, according to the proposal.
In the second phase, the existing mall space and shuttered theaters will be demolished. Jewel will move to a newly rebuilt store in the current Best Buy space while its former environs become smaller shops. The estimated cost is approximately $20 million.