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Oswego OKs financial aid package for upscale fish and steak restaurant downtown · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Aswego Okay's financial aid package for upscale fish and state
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  Speaker 1: restaurant downtown Written by Eric Shelkopf. This article is being
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  Speaker 1: read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  Speaker 1: Oswego Village trustees are enthusiastic about plans for an upscale
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  Speaker 1: fish and steak restaurant to open in a long vacant
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  Speaker 1: space in the reserve at Hudson Crossing luxury apartment complex
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  Speaker 1: along Washington Street in downtown Oswego. The project is dependent
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  Speaker 1: on financial assistance from the village. The village board on
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  Speaker 1: June twenty third approved providing direct financial aid along with
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  Speaker 1: the loan to the restaurant developers. I'm pretty confident this
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  Speaker 1: restaurant will change the direction and vitality of the downtown
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  Speaker 1: Aswego Village Trustee Andrew Torres said during the June twenty
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  Speaker 1: third Oswego Village Board meeting. It's just going to revitalize
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  Speaker 1: downtown as we Go. Plans are for the restaurant to
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  Speaker 1: open by October. Other village trustees, as well as as
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  Speaker 1: we Go Village President Ryan Kaufman, expressed enthusiasm for the project.
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  Speaker 1: He noted that residents have been asking for an upscale
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  Speaker 1: restaurant downtown, preferably a steakhouse, and for that space is
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  Speaker 1: in the Reserve at Hudson Crossing Building to be filled.
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  Speaker 1: This checks all the boxes simultaneously, Kaufman said, I'm thrilled
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  Speaker 1: about it. I'm over the moon. I could not be happier.
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  Speaker 1: Ellwood Steak and Fish House, which also has a restaurant
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  Speaker 1: on Sycamore Road in DeKalb, proposes to take over the
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  Speaker 1: vacant corner space at the Reserve at Hudson Crossing Building
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  Speaker 1: next to Tabletop game Shop. Village trustees approved providing up
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  Speaker 1: to three hundred forty thousand dollars in direct financial assistance
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  Speaker 1: along with a three hundred thousand dollars loan at a
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  Speaker 1: three percent interest rate based on estimated project costs of
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  Speaker 1: one point one five million dollars. Why the financial help
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  Speaker 1: The retail tenant space at one eight West Washington Street
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  Speaker 1: has been vacant since the Reserve at Hudson Crossing Building
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  Speaker 1: was constructed and opened in twenty twenty one. The village
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  Speaker 1: had previously received plans from a full service pizza restaurant
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  Speaker 1: called Riot Pizza to take over the space, but the
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  Speaker 1: plans were abandoned in twenty twenty two. Oswego Economic Development
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  Speaker 1: Director Kevin Lady had said in a memo. Since that time,
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  Speaker 1: there has been occasional interest in the space, but no
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  Speaker 1: deal has come to fruition, due mostly to the amount
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  Speaker 1: of work needed to build out a restaurant there. The
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  Speaker 1: memo states village trustees last year raised the question of
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  Speaker 1: why the majority of the commercial space on the building's
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  Speaker 1: ground level remains vacant. The scho Dean Group built the
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  Speaker 1: first building and recently open reserve at Hudson Crossing's second building.
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  Speaker 1: Show Dean Group president Dave Patzelt had said, one of
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  Speaker 1: the big challenges is the upfront build out costs for
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  Speaker 1: a restaurant. This is a new building, so we're talking
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  Speaker 1: in the range of a one million dollars to a
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  Speaker 1: one point five million dollars to invest and build that
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  Speaker 1: out for the restaurateur, He said. Restorators have asked us
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  Speaker 1: to front that money. We ask for some guarantees to it,
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  Speaker 1: and we are unable to get the guarantees. So unfortunately
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  Speaker 1: we have to suffer the consequences of that decision, which
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  Speaker 1: is we don't have a tenant in there. We'd love
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  Speaker 1: to have a tenant in there, whether it's a restorator
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  Speaker 1: or another commercial user, retail user, office user, whatever it
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  Speaker 1: may be, we'd like a tenant in there. Patzel said.
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  Speaker 1: Village staff had recommended an incentive up to three hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty thousand dollars to be paid over a maximum
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  Speaker 1: of ten years. The total incentive will be comprised of
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  Speaker 1: a forty thousand dollars grant upon opening and up to
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  Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars in rebated sales taxes. Lady said
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  Speaker 1: the applicant has also requested a waiver of village levied
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  Speaker 1: permit fees, which is estimated to range anywhere from eight
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars to fifteen thousand dollars. Starting when the restaurant opens,
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  Speaker 1: the village will rebate fifty percent all sales taxes collected
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  Speaker 1: by the village for up to ten years or until
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  Speaker 1: a maximum of three hundred thousand dollars is incurred, whichever
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  Speaker 1: comes first. In addition, the village will provide an economic
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  Speaker 1: Development Incentive award in the amount of forty thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: to be paid upon completion of the restaurant build out.
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  Speaker 1: The applicant four guys kitchen Oswego LLSEE has secured private
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  Speaker 1: financing for up to three hundred thousand dollars and a
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  Speaker 1: tenant improvement allowance of up to four hundred thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: from the Sho Dean Group. It also plans to contribute
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  Speaker 1: up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars in personal equity.
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  Speaker 1: Tax revenue projections, Ellwood's Steak and Fish House is projected
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  Speaker 1: to produce a substantial amount of tax revenue, which would
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  Speaker 1: help offset the financial impact of the incentive. Over the
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  Speaker 1: ten year incentive term, the restaurant is expected to generate
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  Speaker 1: anywhere from five hundred thousand dollars to one million dollars
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  Speaker 1: in total sales taxes, depending on sales performance. Lady said.
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  Speaker 1: Of this amount, the village would collect half during the
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  Speaker 1: incentive term, and then an estimated sixty five thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars annually thereafter based on reasonable sales projections.
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  Speaker 1: If Elwood closes or is otherwise abandoned without substituting another
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  Speaker 1: comparable business within twelve months, the recipient is required to
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  Speaker 1: refund the village as follows. One hundred percent refund of
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  Speaker 1: economic development payment one hundred percent refund of sales tax
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  Speaker 1: rebate within three years of the authorized agreement, seventy five
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  Speaker 1: percent refund of sales tax rebate after the third year
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  Speaker 1: but before the fifth year of the authorized agreement, fifty
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  Speaker 1: percent refund of sales tax rebate after the fifth year
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  Speaker 1: but before the tenth year of the authorized agreement. Oswego
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  Speaker 1: offers revolving loans to businesses located anywhere within the village's
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  Speaker 1: corporate limits and economic incentive awards to businesses located in
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  Speaker 1: the downtown Tiff district. Since twenty twenty two, the village
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  Speaker 1: has issued or approved four hundred eighteen thousand, seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: ninety eight dollars in grant funding and six hundred thirty
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  Speaker 1: five thousand, three hundred and forty four dollars in revolving
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  Speaker 1: loan funding. Lady said this has resulted in at least
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  Speaker 1: two point five million dollars in direct capital investment into Oswego.
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  Speaker 1: He said,