THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008
City Questions Real Estate Office Plan
By a 4-3 vote, the Park Ridge City Council deferred approval to locate a Coldwell Banker Real Estate office in an Uptown storefront.
The office hoped to move onto Northwest Highway between Touhy and Summit avenues. The business is currently located on Touhy Avenue.
The city's agreement with PRC Partners, LLC, guarantees Park Ridge a certain level of sales tax from all businesses in the development. Because many real estate agency services do not generate sales tax, PRC would guarantee a certain level of payment based on the square footage of the proposed business. The council recently approved a lease for a salon and spa under the same type of agreement.
However, at the council meeting on Monday, Dec. 1, aldermen questioned possible issues with parking and payments. They asked how many parking spots would be designated for the business and how PRC would enforce a limitation. Representatives from the company explained they would demand a listing of employee's cars from the business and levy a $50 fine for each vehicle above the agreed number.
Aldermen also questioned the accounting methods of PRC; the company would claim the sales tax payments as an expense.
Ald. Rich DiPietro (2nd) clarified that issue. "They (PRC) have a guarantee of 11% profit, then after that, the city shares in that," he said. If the company calls the sales tax payment an expense, that cuts into the profit margin. "Before we would share in any revenue, we would have to make up what they're paying us."
However, he stressed that the 11% in no way affects the agreed-upon sales tax payments. "We would see the payment. You'd still get your sales tax," he said.
Ald. James Allegretti (4th) asked the council for approval. "As I look around the city, I walk down Main Street, I walk down Devon Avenue, and I see one empty store after another," he said. "We're not getting sales tax; we're not getting property tax either." Even though the space is designated retail, Allegretti believed any tenant is better than an empty store. "I really think that we have to say let's do this because it's in the best interest of Park Ridge," he said. "We have an empty place that doesn't get assessed."
Ald. Don Bach (3rd) moved to defer approval until the next council meeting to get additional parking information from PRC. He, and aldermen Dave Schmidt (1st), Thomas Carey (6th), and Robert Ryan (5th) agreed, pushing approval back two weeks.