Orland Park, Illinois
Orland Park Place TIF

Orland Park is a south suburban Chicago community with a highly successful retail base that includes the Orland Square shopping center. Orland Park Place was built as an enclosed shopping mall in 1981, to compete with the larger Orland Square mall, located approximately one block to the north. Unfortunately, Orland Park Place was never able to successfully compete for tenants and had a long history of vacancies, tax delinquencies and foreclosures. By the time that a developer approached the Village with its development proposal, tax revenues had begun a steady decline and the mall was an unattractive feature in an otherwise thriving regional commercial center.

Efforts to redevelop Orland Park Place were hampered by poor soil conditions which precluded the complete demolition of the mall and its replacement with entirely new construction. Consequently, the redevelopment plan was designed to incorporate the existing structure as much as possible, while transforming Orland Park Place into an open air, upscale promotional center. Considerable site preparation and grading were also required to improve site visibility and circulation patterns.

The use of tax increment financing was needed to off-set the risks faced by the developer in introducing a unique retail concept, that involved creation of a contemporary shopping center with entrances on multiple levels. This project represented the first time that the Village of Orland Park had authorized the use of tax increment financing.