Village Board Approves Lux Apartments Development Plan and Bond Financing

In front of a packed house, Orland Park trustees approve with one dissenting vote, but also agreed to find ways to lessen the financial risk.

Updated, 11:05 p.m. Monday Catcalls and shouts from unhappy Orland Park residents did not sway the village board Monday night, as both the development plan and complex financing system for the Ninety 7 Fifty On the Park luxury apartments project were approved. But the approval did come with a new caveat introduced during the meeting. The Orland Park Village Board also unanimously voted to have village staff pursue ways to reduce the “debt and gap financing participation” of putting up $63 million in bonds to cover loans and incentives for the construction. Trustee Brad O’Halloran was the lone dissenting vote on the redevelopment agreement and the financing plan for the apartment complex. He said he supports the project itself, but not the …

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Orland Financing Luxury Apartments With $63 Million in Bonds

Deal with the developer would double the village's debt, and repayment on the loan and incentive package could take up to 20 years.

Orland Park will nearly double its bond debt to finance a 295-unit luxury apartment complex, though staff says money from the Tax Increment Finance district, home rule sales tax and from the complex's renters will keep property taxes from being affected. The $63,348,138 million needed to fund the Ninety 7 Fifty On the Park project will include a $38 million loan to developer Flaherty and Collins. The loan is scheduled to be repaid over 10 years as a mortgage. At the end of 10 years, the balance is due in full. The remaining project money, about $24 million, will be considered an incentive package that must be repaid to the village. In 10 years, the entire property will be assessed. If the property is not valued high enough to generate that…

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Editor's View

Walking the Transparency Walk on the Triangle Development Plan

Opposing views on whether bonds will finance the project, and the importance of really being open and clear.

A police lieutenant I once knew said, “When you have nothing to hide, you don’t really worry about crafting your message or image. Life’s a lot easier.” Keeping that in mind it seemed strange that I was the only media member meeting with village staff Thursday, Aug. 4 to hear about the latest Main Street Triangle development plan. All of the other publications in town already met with Orland Park officials in private, separate meetings organized by village staff. The SouthtownStar already published a story before I even walked in the door. I’ve since been told this was done because of scheduling, and so we could “ask our questions without a public forum,” Village Manager Paul Grimes said. A journalist who doesn’t want to ask questions in …

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