SYCAMORE – The City of Sycamore is considering a boundary change to the area called the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone.
The City of DeKalb requested the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone to add about 500 acres south of Gurler Road and between Illinois 23 and just east of Peace Road.
The proposed addition – which will get its first and second reading when the Sycamore City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside the council chambers at the Sycamore Center, 308 W. State St. – involves five separate parcels and is supposed to allow the county to more effectively compete for large scale projects.
Developments such as Project Hammer – an international food confectioner which has been approved to develop 2.4 million square feet of new building space, and bring in 1,000 permanent jobs and 1,000 temporary construction jobs, have been a topic of discussion for months in the county.
In addition to Project Hammer, another major development, Project Ventus is eying a 500-acre site adjacent, which could be annexed into the Enterprise Zone to ensure Ventus qualifies for tax abatement offered to companies inside the zone.
Project Ventus is a confidential knowledge-based or technology industry project with a proposal to invest $800 million to develop 900,000 square feet of space during phase one, according to the Sycamore City Council agenda. The project also has a plan to purchase a 500-acre site (the topic of the enterprise zone discussion) that would allow development of one or more additional identical phases during the near future.
In order to make this happen, the city needs to approve a change to the number of parcels in the area to allow for Project Ventus to get built.
The city also has to sign off on the DeKalb County Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement.
The Enterprise Zone Advisory Board approved recommending this for approval.
The City Council approval is recommended by city staff.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
Be First to Comment