Archives: Success Stories

O’Fallon’s Growth Improves Quality of Life

What’s more appealing to an investor than stability, lower costs, and growth? O’Fallon is a growing community with a stable political environment, growing economy, and…decreasing property tax. The City of O’Fallon recently lowered its property tax rate by over 3% – the lowest it has been in over eight years. O’Fallon is able to decrease… Continue reading →

What’s more appealing to an investor than stability, lower costs, and growth?

O’Fallon is a growing community with a stable political environment, growing economy, and…decreasing property tax.

The City of O’Fallon recently lowered its property tax rate by over 3% – the lowest it has been in over eight years. O’Fallon is able to decrease property tax by focusing on growth.

And the growth is just beginning. Over the past few months, the City has been working with land owners, other taxing bodies and a developer to prepare the area near Exit 21 for development.

The founder of the Gateway Commerce Center, TriStar, is proposing a development on 200+ acres north Interstate 64. Early conceptual plans have included over 1.5 million square feet of construction in phase one. In addition, it has the possibility of creating additional development in the area’s remaining 1,300 acres.

This type of development can positively alter the future of the O’Fallon community, like other major projects like St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Scott Air Force Base, and construction of the Interstate.

In addition to the large amount of jobs and economic impact that this development could create, it has the potential to generate a large amount property tax. It would also diversify O’Fallon’s economy, which will help make the community stable even through the toughest of economic times.

Preliminary scenarios calculate that TriStar’s phase one development could generate over $5 million in property tax for O’Fallon’s school districts over a twenty-year period.

This type of property tax generation could help the O’Fallon taxing bodies be less reliant on residential property tax. Which theoretically would help reduce the property tax you pay on your home or small business. How is this possible you ask?

Every year, the various taxing bodies in O’Fallon, which includes the City of O’Fallon, Schools Districts, St. Clair County, etc. request an amount of dollars that they need to provide their services. This request is sent to St. Clair County, where they distribute that request amongst the taxable property in the taxing bodies’ jurisdiction. This is a very simple explanation of how property tax works, but the point is that if there is industrial or commercial development that is generating millions of dollars per year in property tax, that’s millions of dollars that the residential and small business taxpayers of O’Fallon don’t have to pay.

This development took a great step forward last week. The O’Fallon School Districts, City of O’Fallon, St. Clair County and O’Fallon Township have all formed a partnership to help make this area competitive on a national scale. This partnership helped create a property tax incentive program that will help attract long-term investment and job creation to the area.

 

O’Fallon’s Mid America Commerce Center Prepares for Development

The first step has been taken in the future development of the area in O’Fallon’s Mid America Commerce Center. The City of O’Fallon, along with other neighboring communities, have authorized the addition of property tax abatement as an incentive within the Mid America Enterprise Zone. An Enterprise Zone is a state program that provides incentives… Continue reading →

The first step has been taken in the future development of the area in O’Fallon’s Mid America Commerce Center.

The City of O’Fallon, along with other neighboring communities, have authorized the addition of property tax abatement as an incentive within the Mid America Enterprise Zone. An Enterprise Zone is a state program that provides incentives to commercial and industrial users for job creation and investment.

Implementation of this incentive within the Enterprise Zone allows the Mid America Commerce Center to be competitive with other developments in the St. Louis region and surrounding trade areas, including Chicago, Kansas City, Nashville, and Indianapolis.

O’Fallon has been fortunate with many opportunities. Good location, great schools, and a trained workforce, to name a few. By leveraging the opportunities given, O’Fallon has become a story of success.

Leveraging on the growth of Interstate 64 and the HSHS-St. Elizabeth’s Medical Campus, along with the continual growth of Scott Air Force Base has galvanized O’Fallon’s future for the good.

The community now sits on another great opportunity. One that could propel it into the future. The time to capitalize on development in the Mid America Commerce Center is now.

The founder of the Gateway Commerce Center in Madison County, TriStar Properties, is now proposing a development in O’Fallon on 200+ acres at the northwest corner of Exit 21. The development would include large warehouse and office buildings geared towards industrial, logistics, and light-manufacturing.

Early conceptual plans of the new development include over 1.5 million square feet of construction in phase one. TriStar Properties will be working with the City of O’Fallon over the next few months on preparation of the area. If everything goes to plan, the first construction could take place in 2019.

Phase one of the development could help create development in the additional 1,300 acres north of the Interstate and the 2000+ acres to the south owned by St. Clair County and the Mid America Airport.

TriStar Properties has worked with many Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon, Proctor & Gamble, Walgreens, Hershey’s, and World-Wide Technologies. Nearly 6,000 people work in their Gateway Commerce Center and it has an economic impact of over $1.3 billion.

New Senior Living Development Proposed for O’Fallon

A local developer with a long history of success in O’Fallon has proposed a new development on the eastern edge of O’Fallon. Richard Gorazd, known for high-quality residential development, has proposed a 26+ acre mixed-use development on the east side of Seven Hills Road, near the O’Fallon Public Safety Facility and YMCA. The overall mixed-use… Continue reading →

A local developer with a long history of success in O’Fallon has proposed a new development on the eastern edge of O’Fallon. Richard Gorazd, known for high-quality residential development, has proposed a 26+ acre mixed-use development on the east side of Seven Hills Road, near the O’Fallon Public Safety Facility and YMCA.

The overall mixed-use development consists of three components, including office, senior living, and residential land uses.

The senior living component will be known as “Vantage Pointe at O’Fallon”. Vantage Pointe at O’Fallon will include a 92-bed assisted living and memory care building, a 30-unit independent care building, and 18 independent-living cottages.

In addition to the senior living component, 25,000 square feet of office space and 46 residential units following a model of patio homes will be constructed. Patio homes allow residents to own their home, but all land outside is held in a homeowners’ association. This allows residents to have the benefit of a yard, without the maintenance, a living arrangement that has become particularly attractive to retirees and those who enjoy traveling.

This development will help fill the demand in O’Fallon for living options for all phases of life. O’Fallon is a highly attractive community for young professionals, young families, empty nesters, retirees, and residents requiring assisted living arrangements.

 

O’FALLON’S ‘FRONT DOOR’ EYED AS NEXT GENERATION OF ECONOMIC EXPANSION

The terrain along Interstate 64, heading into O’Fallon from the east, could someday look quite different. Vast stretches of fertile farmland could give way to warehousing and logistical operations. People accustomed to heading into town for work may instead find jobs on the outskirts. A community visited by fortune unlike almost any other in Metro… Continue reading →

A community visited by fortune unlike almost any other in Metro East in the last 20 years could reap the benefits of more to come because of its location.

O’Fallon and St. Clair County are banking heavily on growth in the corridor marked by the empty land around and between two Interstate 64 exits. One is Exit 19, the access for Illinois Route 158, the main way into Scott Air Force Base, Southwestern Illinois’ biggest employer. The other is new Exit 21 at Rieder Road, about two miles to the east, another way into the air base and to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport.

“We are looking at the next large push being transportation, logistics and manufacturing, particular with Exit 19 and the new Exit 21, which is essentially going to be the new front door to Scott Air Force Base,” Assistant City Administrator Grant Litteken said. “We’ve got 600 acres on the north side of the interstate that we are working feverishly to get infrastructure in, and working with some prospects now to develop that area.”

He added: “It’s a 20-year buildout horizon and we are looking long term.”

It cost more than $36 million for St. Clair County to build the Rieder interchange (mostly state money), which will serve development north and south of the interstate. The project included three miles of widening of Interstate 64 to a six-lane roadway and replacing the existing two-lane Rieder Road Bridge over Interstate 64 with an 80-foot wide bridge that is able to accommodate the projected traffic volumes at the interchange. The interchange also includes lighting and signalized intersections.

Several auxiliary roads have been or will be improved as part of the vision, including Rieder Road, Shiloh Valley Township Road and Wherry Road.

Shiloh Valley Township Road is a frontage road that connects the two interchanges on the north side of the interstate.

St. Clair County has about 125 acres north of the interchange, and another 5,800 acres to the south. Once, the county had dreams of putting the new, multi-billion-dollar National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency project on the south side, but lost out to St. Louis.

Terry Beach, economic development director of St. Clair County, recently talked about some of the county’s plans in one of his periodic email updates.

“We are also excited about pending and future developments at and near the new I-64 Exit 21 at Rieder Road,” he wrote. “The County Board recently approved selling 15 acres (of its 125 acres on the north side) to Bobcat of St. Louis. They will be building a new store (sales, service, parts, etc.) there. And that site is located in a state-certified Enterprise Zone administered locally by us.”

Bobcat is currently on a smaller, 3- to 4-acre site in Fairview Heights “so this was a retention project for us since they were considering an out-of-county option. They approached us,” Beach said.

To read the rest of the article, please go to https://www.ibjonline.com/past-issues/2019-issues/january-2019/8953-o-fallon-s-front-door-eyed-as-next-generation-of-economic-expansion

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH

Originally published in the Illinois Business Journal January 2019 Year in Review.

Hotel Capital of Southern Illinois Keeps Growing

The hotels just keep coming in O’Fallon, and officials continue to consider the lodging industry a major part of its economic development future. The city of about 30,000 people estimates it will collect $2.3 million in hotel/motel taxes in 2020, thanks to its 11 existing hotels and two new hotels expected to open this year… Continue reading →

The hotels just keep coming in O’Fallon, and officials continue to consider the lodging industry a major part of its economic development future.

The city of about 30,000 people estimates it will collect $2.3 million in hotel/motel taxes in 2020, thanks to its 11 existing hotels and two new hotels expected to open this year along Interstate 64.

Now a local developer is asking the city to approve zoning for construction of yet another hotel, a Fairfield Inn & Suites, next to Gold’s Gym on Central Park Drive. Fairfield is owned by Marriott.

“We saw an opening for another hotel under the Marriott umbrella in the local market,” said John Van Cleave, vice president of operations for HTM Management, a St. Louis-based company that would hold a minority stake and manage the new Fairfield Inn. “Marriott is a great hotel brand, and it has a really strong rewards-program following.”

The developer, Darrell Shelton, of Commercial Property Investors, formerly of D&D Lodging, was out of town and unavailable for comment. He also is building a new Hampton Inn in O’Fallon.

The opportunity for a new Fairfield Inn was created last year, when the one in Fairview Heights became a Wingate by Wyndham, Van Cleave said. A Marriott TownPlace Suites is being built in O’Fallon, but it has a larger extended-stay capacity.

he new Fairfield Inn would have 108 rooms, a fitness center, indoor pool and meeting space. Plans will go before the O’Fallon Planning Commission on Tuesday night.

“(The commission) will gather facts and make a recommendation to the City Council,” said City Administrator Walter Denton, noting the final zoning vote is likely to take place in February.

Shelton and Van Cleave hope to see the Fairfield Inn open in the summer of 2020. HTM Management also manages the Hampton Inn in Glen Carbon and Regency Conference Center in O’Fallon, and it will manage the Hampton Inn in O’Fallon when it opens.

Hotels prove lucrative for city

O’Fallon now has 998 hotel rooms in 11 hotels, most along Interstate 64. That includes the Baymont by Wyndham, Candlewood Suites, Best Western, Drury Inn & Suites, Extended Stay America, Hilton Garden Inn, HomeTowne Studios & Suites, LaQuinta Inn & Suites, Quality Inn, Super 8 by Wydham and Sleep Inn.

Marriott TownPlace Suites and the Hampton Inn will add 84 and 101 rooms, respectively. If the Fairfield Inn project goes forward, the number of rooms in O’Fallon will reach 1,291.

“(Hotels have) always had a role in our economy because some of them have been around for 20 years,” Denton said. “But we are now using them as a very integral part of our economic development.”

In 2016, the city raised its hotel/motel tax from 5 to 9 percent. Revenues went from $881,798 in 2016 to $1,116,148 in 2017 and $1,978,200 in 2018. Estimates are $2,008,500 for 2019 and $2,354,000 for 2020.

The tax increase was part of “Destination O’Fallon.”

“It’s an economic-development initiative to bring visitors to O’Fallon and to improve our local economy,” Denton said.

He noted that only lodging customers pay the tax. That fact made the increase more acceptable among local residents. A standing-room-only crowd of mostly soccer supporters applauded and cheered loudly at a City Council meeting after the proposal’s first reading on Nov. 7, 2016.

Tax funded soccer fields, pavilion

Extra revenue from the increased hotel/motel tax is already being used for two community projects: Eight new soccer fields that opened in the summer of 2017 at Family Sports Park and a new O’Fallon Station pavilion completed in December downtown.

Officials predict the soccer fields will host 2,000 games a year, including regional tournaments. The pavilion will be the site of farmers markets, festivals and other events.

The city spent $9.3 million on the soccer fields and $1.5 million on the pavilion, using reserve funds and issuing $9.5 million in bonds that will be repaid by hotel/motel tax revenues, Denton said.

The soccer fields and pavilion are expected to attract out-of-town visitors who will seek local lodging, further boosting tax revenues to fund community projects..

O’Fallon Community Development Director Ted Shekell also noted that the hotels serve patients seeking medical care at the new St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon and Memorial Hospital in Shiloh and their families; and people attending special events in St. Louis who prefer to stay in the suburbs.

“It’s great for the community,” he said. “It gives people options for lodging, and if they’re staying in a local hotel, they’re probably eating at local restaurants and shopping at local stores. Hotels are a big economic engine for us.”

Article posted in the Belleville News Democrat (www.bnd.com) on January 4, 2019. Written by Teri Maddox

O’Fallon, Illinois is Built for the Future

With 2018 now behind us, we are able to look at what this next year will bring. I believe that 2019 will be equally as successful, at least in O’Fallon, as the previous few years. I like to start off the year with a column sharing my expectations or “vision” for the upcoming 12 months.… Continue reading →

With 2018 now behind us, we are able to look at what this next year will bring. I believe that 2019 will be equally as successful, at least in O’Fallon, as the previous few years. I like to start off the year with a column sharing my expectations or “vision” for the upcoming 12 months.

First off, growth will continue in O’Fallon. Over the last few months, a number of projects have been given the green light. Some of these are public, some are not yet ready for “prime time”. However, I expect that most of them will move forward in 2019, and with them, O’Fallon will continue its path as the leading community in terms of smart growth in the area.

People will continue to flock to O’Fallon to receive world-class health care, participate in or watch a sporting event, shop, eat, work, or visit a loved one. Last year we saw a great increase in the number of people traveling to O’Fallon, fueled by the opening of the HSHS-St. Elizabeth’s Medical Campus, McKendree Metro Rec Plex, and the O’Fallon Family Sports Park. As a result of this growth in visitors, two new hotels have begun construction, and another has been proposed.

With the completion of O’Fallon Station, there will be an even larger draw to downtown O’Fallon. O’Fallon Station will house a farmer’s market on Saturdays, and while people are there, we hope that they will walk around downtown. Maybe they will stop at one of downtown’s many wonderful shops or restaurants.

Public Safety will remain a priority in the coming year. I believe that a community is characterized by its schools and its level of safety. The City of O’Fallon has the best public safety department in the area and the City Council has made it a priority to see that they are properly prepared to keep this community the safest around!

O’Fallon has been the fastest growing community in the Metro East for single-family residential construction for many years. Last year, we exceeded the number of new homes built from 2017 by approximately 20%. I expect this next year to continue that growth. O’Fallon has become the premier community in which to live, that is why people continue to choose O’Fallon.

We have been working for some time on preparing the area north of Scott Air Force Base, between Exits 19 & 21, for development. I believe that this will start to take shape in the coming year. Ever since the Urban Land Institute issued a report detailing this land as ripe for development, people have been performing their due diligence in order to invest in the future of this area. We believe that this area will be the next engine in the Metro East for investment, jobs, and smart growth. We will be working diligently over the next year with St. Clair County, property owners, and developers, to make this dream a reality.

Sincerely,

Herb Roach, Mayor

St. Elizabeth’s will join with physicians group to open a full-service cancer center

It’s been a year since St. Elizabeth’s Hospital sold its half of the Cancer Treatment Center in Swansea to the Memorial Hospital network. Now St. E.’s is moving forward with plans to open its own radiation oncology clinic in O’Fallon. The clinic will share a new building with Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois, a medical… Continue reading →

It’s been a year since St. Elizabeth’s Hospital sold its half of the Cancer Treatment Center in Swansea to the Memorial Hospital network. Now St. E.’s is moving forward with plans to open its own radiation oncology clinic in O’Fallon.

The clinic will share a new building with Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois, a medical oncology physicians group. This will allow cancer patients to get radiation, chemotherapy and imaging services all in one place.

“We estimate that almost half of the patients in our area receive cancer treatment across the river,” said St. Elizabeth’s President and CEO Patti Fischer. “And especially with cancer patients, they can get debilitated and very sick. It’s so much better to receive treatment closer to home.”

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board recently approved plans for the new radiation oncology clinic, which hasn’t yet been named. The target opening date is January 2020.

St. Elizabeth’s will lease nearly 12,000 square feet in a new 30,000-square-foot building at 301 Regency Park Drive, just west of the hospital, for the radiation oncology clinic. The building will be constructed and owned by Green Mount Enterprises, a development company formed by Cancer Care Specialists.

To Read the Full Article, please go to https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article222791300.html.

Citizen Survey Gives High Scores to O’Fallon

The recently completed National Citizens Survey, performed by the National Research Center, randomly selects 1,500 O’Fallon residents and asks them questions about their community. The entire survey results are available on the City’s website at https://www.ofallon.org/administration/pages/2018-national-citizens-survey. Out of the 130 categories that were surveyed, O’Fallon was ranked similar or higher than comparison communities 98% of the… Continue reading →

The recently completed National Citizens Survey, performed by the National Research Center, randomly selects 1,500 O’Fallon residents and asks them questions about their community.

The entire survey results are available on the City’s website at https://www.ofallon.org/administration/pages/2018-national-citizens-survey.

Out of the 130 categories that were surveyed, O’Fallon was ranked similar or higher than comparison communities 98% of the time.

There were nearly two-dozen categories where the City received its highest ratings ever. Not only did we see the highest scores ever in these categories, but those on the list below were 6-11% higher than they have ever been before! Those categories were:

  • Economic Development
  • Shopping Opportunities
  • City Acting in the Best Interest of Its Citizens
  • Attending a City-Sponsored Event
  • Storm Drainage
  • Health Services
  • Mental Health Care
  • Preventative Health Services
  • Confidence in City Government
  • Perceived Honesty by the City Government

The Citizen’s Survey is reaffirmation that the residents of O’Fallon enjoy living in this community. Over 90% of participants in the survey said that O’Fallon is a good or excellent place to live.

New Hotel will Open in 2019

O’Fallon welcomed another new hotel to the City – Hampton Inn broke ground on November 8, 2018. The new hotel will open in 2019 and will add 100 new rooms to the O’Fallon Hotel Market. The new hotel will be attached to the Regency Conference Center.

O’Fallon welcomed another new hotel to the City – Hampton Inn broke ground on November 8, 2018. The new hotel will open in 2019 and will add 100 new rooms to the O’Fallon Hotel Market.

The new hotel will be attached to the Regency Conference Center.

O’Fallon Based Gateway Multifamily Group Ranks No. 1856 on the 2018 Inc. 5000

Inc. magazine recently revealed that Gateway Multifamily Group is No. 1856 on its 37th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn,… Continue reading →

Inc. magazine recently revealed that Gateway Multifamily Group is No. 1856 on its 37th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

“From 1 mobile home to over 500 units – We have worked extremely hard and are very proud to be recognized on the Inc. 5000 list alongside many other great companies,” said Gateway Principal Raj Tut. “Our growth can be attributed to our team of really talented people who go to any length to ensure we are successful.”

Not only have the companies on the 2018 Inc. 5000 (which are listed online at Inc.com, with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 15) been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists. The 2018 Inc. 5000 achieved an astounding three-year average growth of 538.2 percent, and a median rate of 171.8 percent. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue was $206.1 billion in 2017, accounting for 664,095 jobs over the past three years.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

“If your company is on the Inc. 5000, it’s unparalleled recognition of your years of hard work and sacrifice,” says Inc. editor in chief James Ledbetter. “The lines of business may come and go, or come and stay. What doesn’t change is the way entrepreneurs create and accelerate the forces that shape our lives.”

The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held October 17 to 19, 2018, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort, in San Antonio, Texas. As always, speakers include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation.

Gateway Multifamily Group operates a group of management and real estate holding companies. The group of companies acquires, transforms, and manages multifamily assets in select submarkets of the St. Louis metro area. For more information please visit www.GatewayMultifamily.com.