sept-2017

172 173 station, a car wash, a small diesel station, a strip mall that will house a couple of restaurants and gaming, and a mega 8,000-sq.-ft. convenience store. That’s triple the size of a normal gas station convenience store. He’s hoping to get a residen- tial developer interested in building 40 to 50 more single-family homes in that area. The creation of two TIF districts in the city’s main commercial corridors is scheduled for mid-October, and is a first for Crest Hill. Tax incre- ment financing (TIF) is a public financing method used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastruc- ture, and other community-improvement projects. There are two developers already waiting for the TIFs, so they can get started on their plans for this area. Other confidential projects are also in the works, and the city is anticipating good growth over the next five years. One of the Illinois state prisons is in Crest Hill, and employees 1,000 people, although the city prefers to promote other economic drivers. In addition to Amazon, logistics companies Old Do- minion and Dayton Freight, Rich’s Products, and Frito-Lay Distribution each employ hundreds of that. They put in 500 plus parking spaces, so we’re looking at a good 500 to 800 jobs over the course of three shifts, and a lot of those will be full time. They did more than $25 million in improvements to the building, including a phenomenal $20 mil- lion conveyor system. To put that kind of money into a facility, we know they mean business. And a lot of that comes back to the city in utility tax, property tax, permit fees…They’re going to be a good partner for Crest Hill.We’ve already sparked interest with articles in major pub- lications including the Chicago Sun, Crain’s Business, and the Chica- go Tribune.” And there’s more big news for Crest Hill. The owner of Ricky Rockets just bought 75 acres, half a mile to the east of the Amazon building. His plan is to put in a gas CREST HILL, ILLINOIS CREST HILL Total area:                       9.166 Square Miles Population:                     20,479 Unemployment:              4.9% Residential tax rate:       0.098858 Commercial tax rate:      8% Median family income:  $50,629 Job growth %:                 1.41% Median home price:       $153,000