Development efforts progress in Dixon

DIXON – The city is positioned to make strides in commercial, industrial and residential development as pieces come together that have been years in the making.

Major developments are planned for the Interstate 88 Corridor, more than 500 acres will soon be annexed into the city, additional cleanup work is targeted for riverfront revitalization, and more housing will be built to accommodate spurs in industry.

Gateway Project

The Gateway Project was announced by the city and the Lee County Industrial Development Association in July to bring a commercial development on South Galena Avenue across from Walmart between Keul and Bloody Gulch roads.

The project is expected to create more than 600 jobs and $1 million a year in new tax revenue, focusing on hospitality-related businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and gas stations, among others.

Xsite Real Estate of Burr Ridge and Walsh Partners of Elmhurst are purchasing 27 acres, and preliminary designs call for up to a dozen buildings. Xsite is the developer of Presidential Parkway Plaza, the four-building project north of Walmart along the south side of Keul Road.

One of the city’s key goals in recent years has been to bring another hotel to town, and the development will likely make that a reality, Mayor Li Arellano Jr. said.

“The hospitality industry continues to recover from the pandemic, and I think there’s going to continue to be interest for a hotel until we land one,” he said.

The Gateway Project is just one of the many expected opportunities in the I-88 corridor, City Manager Danny Langloss said.

“The 27 acres is the catalyst, but it’s just the beginning of what’s possible in the I-88 corridor,” he said.

The city also is looking to create a tax increment financing, or TIF, district for the project area, where future tax revenue would be used to reimburse city infrastructure costs and reinvest in the area.

Langloss said it will likely be two TIFs – north and south of I-88 – as those districts cannot currently cross tollways. One will lean more industrial and the other commercial.

The city will receive $1 million from the Opportunity Zone grant program toward developing infrastructure for the Gateway Project.

Dixon has federal Opportunity Zones blanketing Gateway and the surrounding area, as well as the Viaduct Point project footprint along the riverfront downtown. The zones aim to stimulate economic development by giving investors a tax break for reinvesting unrealized profits in the protected areas.

A groundbreaking for Gateway could take place as early as the fall, once the land is annexed into the city and logistics are finalized, Arellano said.

“We hope to be moving earth in the fall. I think the process will speed up as we see economic recovery,” he said.

In the next couple of months, the city will begin annexing around 500 acres in that area. The industrial park just south of Interstate 88 is nearly full, with only a handful of acres left, which has limited the city’s position when it comes to drawing in new development, so the annexations will help to attract new projects.

Other plans for the land include a 70-unit community for those 55 and older by Dixon-based Hvarre Development.

In March, the Dixon City Council approved amending the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone to make room for that project, as well as a project to build 16 single-family homes at the former Washington Park athletic fields, near Washington School.

“Really in all three directions – residential, commercial, and potential for industrial – the I-88 corridor is growing,” Arellano said.

Viaduct Point

In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began $3 million in emergency cleanup work at the former Dixon Iron & Metal Co., 78 Monroe Ave., after contaminants were found going into the river.

The scrapyard is part of the Viaduct Point project footprint, with the overall goal being to prime the area for future development, including extending the city bike path along that area and up to the viaducts, as well as attracting commercial development.

The Viaduct Point project is a partnership in which the city and the Lee County Industrial Development Association secured about 10 acres of land stretching from the Peoria Avenue Bridge to the viaducts.

The bulk of remediation has been concluded, and there will likely be additional river cleanup this summer, a potential $1 million project, Arellano said.

They continue to have talks with interested developers for Viaduct Point, and it will be just a matter of time, he said.

Langloss said they’re hoping for all cleanup to be completed this year and to work on the bike path extension next year.

The city acquired the Dixon Iron and Metal Co. scrapyard in 2019 through abandonment court, after about 2 years of extending a contract to buy the property while environmental tests were conducted. Dixon Iron, formerly owned by Jim Pitchford, closed in late 2017.

Previous tests found levels of heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCBs, that exceeded EPA standards. EPA cleanup work included replacing contaminated soil with clean soil, disposing of hazardous materials, and restoring the property with backfilling excavated areas and planting grass, according to EPA records.

Bike Path Extension

Pieces are coming together for the city’s multimillion dollar bike path extension project.

In 2016, the city received a $2 million Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant to extend its bike path 1.6 miles – stretching east on River Road toward Raynor Garage Doors and west along the river with a ramp to the viaducts running to Seventh Street.

It’s a longtime quality-of-life improvement for the community, and a way to open up a pedestrian path to Depot Avenue and Dementown.

“A huge focus of ours is to be the place to live; we want to be a destination for people to come to,” Langloss said.

The city got a two-year extension for the grant while it waits on a clean bill of environmental health for the Dixon Iron and Metal Co. scrapyard. The goal is to get the property cleaned up and have the path run along the river before connecting to the viaducts.

Preliminary engineering was completed for the project, and the city has earmarked $1 million in Rita Crundwell recovery fund dollars for expenses not covered by the grant.

For the past three years, the city has also applied for a federal transportation grant to fund a $12 million project to build a pedestrian bridge across the Rock River and continue to extend the bike path.

The city hasn’t yet had luck at landing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD grant, for Project Rock.

That project includes constructing a pedestrian bridge on the old Illinois Central Railroad piers and adding 2.8 miles of multiuse path with new trails and pathways in the wooded area of Page Park, as well as other improvements.

Langloss said they’re unsure if they’re going to continue to pursue the BUILD grant; they’ve had mixed reviews from the grant administrators and might look at pursuing a different direction.

The city has had success with grants when pieces of projects are already prepared, such as preliminary engineering. Langloss said a strength of city staff has been to commit to making a vision a reality.

“One thing we’ve done really well is to have a long-term vision, a dedicated leadership team, partnerships and trust of the community,” he said. “You see in Dixon, the momentum builds on itself.”