THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2006
$21 Million In Uptown Bonds OKd
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Reporter
On Monday night, May 15, the Park Ridge City Council officially voted to increase the city's debt by nearly $21.1 million.
To finance the city's share of Uptown improvements, aldermen approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of two series of bonds, 2006A and 2006B, totaling $10.9 million and $10.1 million, respectively.
Closing on the bond issue is tentatively set for June 1.
About $18.6 million of the proceeds will be used to finance more than a dozen public improvement projects in Uptown, most of them in the tax increment financing (TIF) district called Target Area 2, where PRC Partners and the city are jointly engaged in a $120 million residential-commercial project that will transform the heart of Uptown. The rest of the proceeds will pay the bond issue's expenses and fees and interest, plus pay for projects in other areas of Uptown.
Most of these expenses are specified in the redevelopment agreement the city entered into with the PRC redevelopment team in late 2004.
In order of the size of the expense, here is a list of the projects to be financed by this bond issue:
* A $7.3 million parking garage in Phase III of Target Area 2, the former water reservoir site. This facility will be used by residents of condos to be built at that location, and by shoppers and residents.
* Streetscapes and landscaping totaling $3.2 million all over Uptown.
* A new parking lot at Summit Mall for $3.1 million, including $2.6 million for purchase of the mall property from Joseph Freed & Associates.
* Just over $1 million for upgrade of the city commons area on the south side of Touhy Avenue and the west side of Prospect Avenue, outside of the public library.
* A total of $850,000 for a joint city/business facade improvement program for businesses in Uptown.
* $563,000 for new street lights.
* $450,000 for new traffic signals on Summit Avenue at Touhy and Northwest Highway.
* $437,000 for reconstruction of Northwest Highway near Touhy.
* $396,000 for environmental cleanup, most of it involving the former Bredemann auto dealership property.
* A total of $377,000 for infrastructures such as sewers and water mains in the Uptown area.
Other identified expenses include general site work, roadway improvements, settlement of the Summit Square Retirement Home lawsuit settlement with the city, miscellaneous engineering, and additional sewer work.
The bonds will be paid off over a 20-year period ending in 2026, at a projected debt service cost of about $31 million.