$2B entertainment and retail venue planned in Madison County

A developer wants to use a newly expanded state bond program to build a nearly $2 billion shopping and entertainment venue in Glen Carbon.

The village appears to be the first metro-east community to try using STAR bonds.

Glen Carbon’s board of trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to establish the boundaries for a sales tax and revenue bond district, which now awaits approval from the state.

The district being considered by Illinois state agencies would be home to a $1.97 billion development that would create “a premier entertainment, tourism and mixed-use destination” near the intersection of Interstates 270 and 255 on 1,500 acres in Glen Carbon, according to the developer.

“The economic impact will be significant,” said Robert Stephan, executive vice president of the development group behind the project. “It will be in the billions of dollars. There will be thousands of construction jobs and a couple thousand permanent jobs, full and part-time.”

As of early February, Glen Carbon was the only community in the southwest region to notify Illinois’ Department Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Department of Revenue of its intent to establish a district. Gov. JB Pritzker, who signed the legislation that created the incentives into law last year, touted the program in Belleville earlier this month.

Glen Carbon’s proposal seeks to create the bigger of the two districts outlined under state law.

Called a “New Opportunities for Vacation Adventure District,” the developer must make a minimum capital investment of $500 million, generate $300 million in gross sales annually, create 1,500 full-time jobs and attract 1 million visitors every year to qualify.

The development in Glen Carbon will generate $714 million in annual sales and attract 23.7 million visitors, according to documents presented to Glen Carbon’s board of trustees. It will also create 13,750 temporary construction jobs and 2,790 full-time positions. In all, the buildings constructed will total 3.5 million square feet.

The master developer is Destination Illinois LLC, which is run by Chad and Ryan Holland. The brothers own a real estate and development company, CR Holland, that has Metro East locations in O’Fallon and Belleville.

While the plans for specific businesses are not finalized, they could include retail, hotels, sport and recreation facilities, waterfront attractions, music venues, multifamily housing and restaurants, according to information provided by the Hollands’ firm to the village.

“We believe the data shows that this site will be attractive for folks within a 250-mile radius,” Stephan said. “Those types of tenants are going to be entertainment related, destination related, hospitality related — not something you would just drive across town for.”

The end product could look a little like Grandscape in suburban Dallas, Stephan said.

Supporters of the district, like Kyle Anderson, executive director of Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois, told the board of trustees that a project like this would attract visitors from all over the region.

“We believe that the STAR bonds will allow those opportunities for long-term growth that makes sense to families, to our future workforce and just make the overall community a lot better,” Anderson said.

STAR bonds allow the state’s portion of sales tax revenue generated by the development to help pay back bonds used to finance the project.

The southwest Illinois region can be approved for up to three districts, according to the state’s rules that cap the number of projects based on population.

Glen Carbon had been the original site for a STAR bonds district in Illinois proposed in 2010. However, the deal fell through after local opposition, and state lawmakers moved the only district to Marion in deep southern Illinois. That project recently hit a speed bump with one of the developers.

The state agencies will have 60 days to evaluate Glen Carbon’s proposal. If they determine the district is sufficient, it will refer the proposal to the governor’s office, which will have 30 days to make its determination.

“This is just one step in the process,” Stephan said. “We have to go through all of the steps before we have a finished project.”

Erika Heil, Glen Carbon’s director of community development, said the village’s decision on Tuesday night does not lock the village into the development, nor does it approve construction or spend any tax dollars.

Glen Carbon will have enough utilities to support such a large development, especially as the village explores creating a new water treatment facility of its own, trustee Ben Maliszewski noted.

Stephan told the board of trustees that Destination Illinois signed a project labor agreement with the Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council. He estimates it could be between 18 and 24 months before construction starts. It would also be completed in phases over a handful of years, he said.

STAR bonds may be familiar to Missourians, as the Kansas Legislature used them to draw the Kansas City Chiefs across the state border to help build a new stadium.

The expansion of the program statewide in Illinois will also help increase competition between states, supporters said.

“A STAR bond district would allow us to recapture some of that market that goes over to St. Louis for entertainment purposes,” Anderson said. “Not only recapture what we have in Illinois, but attract some wholeheartedly. I love the Cardinals. I love the Blues. But I would love to spend some more of my money on this side of the river.”