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the orland park prairie | March 30, 2017 | 5
Orland Park Village Board
Officials look to bring theater to the Triangle
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
Another piece of the Triangle
could be in place as
early as 2018.
The Village of Orland
Park Board of Trustees
voted unanimously March
20 to sign a letter of intent
with Bradford Real Estate
Companies to sell part of
the Downtown Main Street
Triangle land for $1 million.
The Village, which purchased
this part of the triangle
property for an estimated
$1.19 million, will sell
approximately 1 1/2 acres
of land to Bradford, who in
turn plans to construct an
80,000-square-foot, twolevel
building that will primarily
house a luxury theater
chain.
Village staff projects the
building to cost approximately
$20 million, which
is to be privately financed.
Director of Development
Services Karie Friling estimates
the project will generate
$8.85 million in tax
revenue over the life of the
tax increment financing district
located in the Triangle
Friling said the negotiations
for the property have
occurred over the past year.
She said Cinépolis currently
does not have a presence
in Illinois, but it will soon
Round It Up
A brief recap of action from the March 20 meeting of the
Orland Park Village Board and its committees.
• With the consent agenda, Village Board members
voted unanimously to approve various expenditures,
including a Dectron replacement at the Orland Park
Health & Fitness Center and a special use permit for a
new Mexican restaurant on the southwest part of town.
• During the Development Services, Planning and
Engineering Committee meeting, trustees voted 3-0
to recommend the Village Board approve a site plan,
subdivision, elevations and a special-use permit to
Rizza Porsche to construct a new dealership facility on
159th Street.
• That same committee also voted 3-0 to recommend
the Village Board approve a rezoning, site plan and
variances for the Orland Park Nature Center, which
would include the development and operation of a
facility at the center.
open a location in Arlington
Heights. The Orland Park
theater would be its second
in the state.
“They have over 500 theaters
worldwide, and they
have 16 in the continental
United States,” Friling said.
Friling said Cinépolis
would occupy the entirety
of the second floor of the
building, as well as part of
the first floor, with escalators
taking people up to the
theater.
“It is an eight-screen cinema,
with a restaurant and
bar,” Friling said. “The first
floor will include a mix of
special retail and restaurant
space, as well.”
Friling said the conceptual
plan shows the building
will be “open and inviting,”
including a pedestrian
walkthrough that provides
an entrance to Crescent
Park to the west and a newly
constructed public plaza
area. According to the staff
memorandum on the project,
the Village would reimburse
Bradford for the cost
of the public plaza.
Jay Eck, vice president
of Bradford Real Estate
— a private development
company based in Chicago
— said the hope is to start
construction by next spring,
with the theater opening in
fall 2018.
“Theaters tend to like to
open around Thanksgiving,”
Eck said. “That seems
to be a good time. So, we’re
hoping to make that date.”
Eck said Cinépolis is
a “best-in-class theater
chain.”
“They are new to the
States, but they have earned
their reputation by really
catering to the higher end
and by having a really phenomenal
experience for the
consumer,” said Eck, who
added he believes the quality
of the theater will bring
people to Orland.
Mayor Dan McLaughlin
said he thinks the theater is
a good fit for Orland Park.
“The idea of having an
entertainment venue in this
mixed-use development
is the next step; so, I’m
very excited about that,”
McLaughlin said. “I think
this will be a great addition
to the Triangle and will attract
the pedestrian traffic
we were looking for to make
it a very exciting downtown
area.”
Friling added that staff
will continue to work with
Bradford on who the additional
tenants will be in the
building.
Staff estimates it will
have developed 55 percent,
or 8.8 acres, of the Triangle
project after the Cinépolis
project, with roughly
7.2 acres left. Friling estimates
the economic impact
over the life of the TIF being
$55.01 million, with
$145.63 million in private
investment and $13.44 million
in public investment.
Yousef Zaatar, an Orland
Park resident, raised some
concerns about the project
during the meeting. He
pointed to the Village purchasing
the land for $1.19
million but selling for approximately
$1 million. He
also asked if the Village had
done any third-party feasibility
studies on what the
Cinépolis project would do
to the Marcus Theatres Orland
Park Cinema.
“I’m not saying it’s not
a great investment, but I’m
just concerned about what
it could do to other parts
of the community,” Zaatar
said. “Nobody wants to see
an abandoned other movie
theater.”
McLaughlin replied that
the two theaters are different
products, and he does not
foresee it being a problem.
“I think competition helps
raise the bar everywhere,”
he added, pointing to the
new luxury theater that
opened south of Interstate
80 in Frankfort.
After the meeting,
McLaughlin expanded on
his comments, including the
difference between the price
the Village paid to buy the
property and the amount it
will get back after selling.
“That might not sound
like a great profit, but what
you’ve done is you’ve [incentivized]
a great use to
come to the Village — plus
create huge real estate and
sales taxes in the future
Cinépolis because that will
be a valuable building on a
valuable piece of property,”
McLaughlin said.
Friling said after the meeting
that the sale of the property
will be contingent upon
Bradford having a signed
lease from Cinépolis. Addressing
the resident’s concern,
she also added that she
was sure the theater chain
had done its market studies
to test the viability of the
Orland Park market.
“If it is outside of 3 miles,
it is considered a completely
different market,” Friling
said. “We’re at 2.99 miles
[away from Marcus].”
She said the Village also
doesn’t “get into the business
of picking winners and
losers,” giving an example
of if a McDonald’s were to
open in an area, staff would
not discriminate against a
Burger King opening nearby.
Township’s free senior mini health fair part of Older Americans Month
Submitted by Orland
Township
Orland Township, 14807
S. Ravinia Avenue, is hosting
a free senior mini health
fair from 9 a.m.-noon
Thursday, April 13. The fair
is to include a day of valuable
free health screenings
and information provided
by local senior servicerelated
agencies, as well as
refreshments, raffles and
giveaways.
Services available at the
fair include the following:
free total lipid profile testing
by Orland Township,
free blood pressure screenings
by College of DuPage
Nursing Program and hearing
screenings by South
Suburban Hearing Health
Center.
Shingles vaccinations
from Orland Township also
will be available on this day
for a discounted price of
$190 per shot. Discounted
pneumonia shots for either
$80 or $175 also will
be available: Pneumovax
23 ($80) and Prevnar 13
($175).
An appointment must be
made by April 6 for a hearing
screening or a shingles
or pneumonia vaccination
by calling (708) 403-4222.
For additional information
on the senior mini health
fair, or to make an appointment
for a hearing screening
or shingles or pneumonia
vaccine, call (708) 403-
4222. More information also
can be found at www.orland
township.org.
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