Orland Mayor Pekau Update/ Term Limits on April Ballot

This update is from the board meeting on Monday.  The agenda was light, but critically important for the Village of Orland Park.  The two items discussed were term limits and an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on an incentive package to bring Von Maur to the vacated Carson’s space. First, I put a binding referendum for term limits on the agenda.  This referendum would go on the April 2019 ballot.  According to our attorneys, we must put a binding referendum on the ballot to institute term limits.  referendum would limit a person to three full 4-year terms (12 years) for each position of Trustee, President and Clerk beginning with the April 2019 elections. There were two issues raised.  The first by Trustee Gira, was that I am against referendums and why then would I be putting it on the agenda.  I pointed out that I am against “advisory” referendums and remain so but as the attorney’s indicated the ONLY way to institute term limits was by binding referendum.  I think it goes without saying as to why I would put this referendum on the agenda.  The second issue was raised by Trustees Gira and Fenton who believe the referendum should be on a November ballot when more people vote.  That’s a reasonable position, but since this is for local term limits, to me it makes sense to put it on the local April ballot. It also gives Orland Park residents a chance to focus on the issue in a local election without the noise of a federal election. Since the board has until January to place this on the ballot, we decided to postpone this vote until the second meeting in November.  The most important item of the night was that we voted for an incentive package to bring Von Maur to Orland Square Mall to fill the vacancy caused by Carson’s exit.  The incentives are as follows: The Village is abating all property taxes for 10 years, waiving all building permit fees, and rebating 50% of sales taxes for 10 years. District 230, District 135, the Fire District and Library are abating 50% of property taxes for 10 years.  (50% of something is better than 10% of a vacant property) The maximum incentive is $8.5 million.  If Von Maur generates enough sale tax to get to this cap, then the incentives end and full property and sales taxes are paid going forward. Just seven short weeks after Carson’s exited the premises, there is a higher end, fiscally healthy department store taking its place.  The entire agreement and property acquisition will be finalized this week and Von Maur plans to open before next Thanksgiving. This is great news for Orland Park.  It will help Seritage lease the remaining spaces in their Sears redevelopment, will help the mall command better rents, will raise the value of the mall and surrounding properties and will attract more shoppers to the mall.  How many places lose 2 major anchors and have commitments to fill them in less than 8 months?  It speaks to the strength of Orland Park. However, it was not easy and it was not dumb luck.  In order to make this happen it required planning, execution, hard work, open mindedness and trust. The steps to get here took more than 18 months. One of the cornerstones of my platform was Economic Development and to “Work with Simon (owners of the mall) to encourage expansion and/or new formats to revitalize the Village’s largest asset, Orland Square Mall.”  For this reason, my first business meeting after the election was with Simon Properties.  They asked me if, “the village was open to proactively redeveloping the mall”.  It was a no brainer to say yes and work proactively with Simon to accomplish this. Shortly after I was sworn in, Trustee Ruzich and I met with Simon and they indicated that Seritage wanted to proactively take over a portion of the Sears location and wanted to put a state-of-the-art movie theater at the mall.  Kudos to Trustees Ruzich and Dodge for being OPEN MINDED from the beginning and allowing the free market to decide. Seritage shared their plans and I explained to them that if they stuck with the project, I would work to get the votes needed (which I didn’t have at the time).  To their credit, they TRUSTED me and also believed that the Orland Park market would be profitable for them.  Seritage asked for no incentives and explained their plans on at least three separate occasions to all of the trustees.  Ultimately it took 8 months, but we managed to get enough votes for approval.  It took hard work, planning and execution to get those votes.   Thank you very much again to Trustee Ruzich for working hard to make this happen. You may ask why I am mentioning this.  I am mentioning this because several people thought we should target Von Maur for the Sears space and had staff call Von Maur to make this happen-- their call was not even returned.  Simon, the mall owners, shared with the Trustees and me that Von Maur would not want that space, that they thought Carson’s would be the next department store to go out of business and that Von Maur would want the Carson’s location because it is the premier spot in Orland Square.  They also felt that to get Von Maur, the Sears redevelopment would need to be approved first.  This is where I TRUSTED them.  However, to coin a phrase from Ronald Reagan, “TRUST, BUT VERIFY”.  So, I verified their plan.  I spoke to many former colleagues and friends who are in C-suite positions in the retail industry and they agreed that Von Maur would want the Carson’s location and they would be unlikely to enter the mall if there was another vacant anchor. So, the AMC deal was critical to make this plan happen.  Close to the same time this deal was approved, Carson’s announced its closure.  At that point a series of phone calls took place with Simon and Von Maur and Von Maur.  I agreed to meet with Von Maur’s CFO in Las Vegas, which I did.  The meeting was productive and they were clear about what they thought they would need from us in order to make the deal happen.  From the beginning Von Maur was outstanding to work with. Upon return, I involved staff and worked with Director Friling to determine how we could make this happen.  It was clear that we could not do this alone. She suggested that we would need other taxing bodies to help us get it done. At that point, about 5 months ago, we met with every taxing body to explain our situation and ask them for help.  To their credit they were OPEN MINDED and willing to help.  Additionally, we all had to TRUST one another and be honest with one another to reach an agreement. Over the last 5 months, we have all worked together - D230, D135, the Library, the Fire District, Von Maur, Simon and us to come to an agreement on an incentive package.  Additionally, we know that Simon is spending 10’s of millions to help take control of the property and Von Maur will be investing $20-25 million to redevelop and occupy the site.  Everyone is contributing and everyone will benefit.  The Village and all of the taxing bodies benefit from having an occupied anchor and with Von Maur as a tenant, the property values of the mall and all around it should increase.  It is also likely to continue the trend to more investment in Orland Square Mall and all of Orland Park. It took a lot of HARD WORK, and TRUST to get an incentive agreement between 7 different entities.  I want to thank our Staff, especially Kari Friling for her creative ideas on structuring the incentive package and to Joe LaMargo for coordinating with the school districts over the last few weeks as we came closer to this night.  Additionally, thank you to all of our Trustees for pulling together to work in the best interests of the Village.  Also thank you to Dr. Skosberg and the D135 board, Dr Gay, Rick Nogal and the D230 board, Chief Schofield, Chris Evoy and the Fire District Board, and Mary Weinberg, Dan McMillan and the Library Board.  Without them, this would not have happened.  Lastly, I want to give a shout out to the neighboring Mayors (Mayor Bennett, Mayor Straz, Mayor Mahoney and Mayor Vandenberg and Mayor Werner) for making calls in support of the project. They understand that a vibrant Orland Square Mall is good for the region. This was truly a team effort and everyone here tonight and the entire Village should be proud.  It speaks to the strength of Orland Park and what the market thinks of Orland Park and our entire region as an investment opportunity.  Most importantly, it shows what we can accomplish when we work together and pull on the rope in the same direction. It is amazing we were able to keep this secret for 5 months with so many people knowing but it was critical to closing the deal.  I have repeatedly said for months that I am not worried about the mall (and people were very skeptical) and the Village will be fine.  I am excited to finally be able to make this announcement that I have knew was on the horizon.  The Von Maur addition to Orland Square is great for Orland Park and the region!