Aurora Beacon-News -- Series and related stories on Prairie Parkway
Aurora Beacon-News
June 18, 2006
Who benefits from the Prairie Parkway?
By Matthew DeFour
Ever since the Prairie Parkway was first unveiled to the public in
2001, Marvel Davis has been one of its most outspoken opponents.
For the Big Rock Township landowner, the issue comes down to
sustainable development in Kane and Kendall counties and the impact
future growth will have on open space and water supplies.
From its inception, Davis maintains, the 36-mile outer beltway was
advertised as a regional bypass to keep truck traffic off of
overburdened local highways and not as an engine for economic
development.
"This present map is so far removed from what the project is supposed
to have been," Davis said. "I just have to ask, 'Who will benefit from
this road?'"
Davis admits that she herself will benefit in some ways from the
expressway, which would sweep past a 70-acre parcel of her farmland on
Jericho Road.
For example, the Illinois Department of Transportation, which presented
a more detailed map of the project in April, expects to build a new
section of Jericho Road that would move local traffic away from Davis's
farmhouse.
More to the point, Davis has noticed her property values substantially
increasing in recent years, a phenomenon undoubtedly related to this
being one of the fastest-growing regions in the country but also
possibly linked to the effect the proposed Prairie Parkway is having on
economic development, especially at future interchanges.
Even though IDOT doesn't expect to break ground on the parkway until as
early as 2009, communities already are envisioning major shopping
centers, hotels, housing developments and industrial parks at several
of the parkway's key locations.
But Davis doesn't want to see her property become part of the sprawl.
Though a developer recently had been offering $42,000 per acre in her
area, Davis opted to sell a 125-acre plot to the Kane County Forest
Preserve District for $24,500 per acre. The county expects to add the
land to the adjacent Big Rock Forest Preserve.
"If I were not so dedicated to open space, there's no question that I
could sell my land for quite a bit more," Davis said. "If you love the
land and are absolutely dedicated to the idea that all of this
development is bad, you've got to put your money where your mouth is."
Hastert's investment
Just a few miles away from Davis' farmstead lives one of the staunchest
supporters of the Prairie Parkway and another beneficiary of the
scorching real estate market: U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The Republican who lives in the countryside near Plano has been
promoting the outer beltway concept since he took office in 1987 as a
way to prevent traffic gridlock and to encourage economic development
in Kane and Kendall counties.
Last year, he delivered on his promise to secure federal transportation
dollars for the parkway and even brought President Bush to Kendall
County to sign the six-year federal transportation bill, which includes
$207 million for the $1 billion parkway project.
Like Davis, Hastert also made a decision about his property, opting in
December to sell some real estate for a $2 million profit to the
developer of a 727-acre mixed-use project along Galena Road, three
miles west of the proposed parkway route.
Hastert sold the property only three years after purchasing his
195-acre estate north of Plano for $2.125 million, or about $11,000 per
acre. The previous owner wanted to sell the three-parcel property
together, a Hastert spokesman said.
In 2004, Hastert acquired a quarter-interest in an adjacent 70-acre
property with two other partners — Kendall County Republican
Party Chairman Dallas Ingemunson and Tom Klatt, a former Bristol
Township Trustee. The transaction was done through a trust, Little Rock
Trust #225, because there were multiple partners involved, Ingemunson
said.
In May 2005 Hastert transferred 69 landlocked acres of his estate into
the same trust, which gave the total 139 acres access to a local road,
making it more valuable. The trust sold the land to the developer in
December for $4.989 million.
That comes to more than $36,000 per acre for the land.
Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn said the property investment more than
tripling is far removed from the effect of the Prairie Parkway and has
more to do with a general upward trend in property values in and around
Plano and Yorkville.
Art Zwemke, the developer who purchased Hastert's property, agreed with
that assessment, saying he did not factor in the effect of the Prairie
Parkway in the final price. At the same time, he agrees that the
expressway could augment the potential of his project and others along
the beltway corridor in the distant future.
Planning for the future
Zwemke, president of the Robert Arthur Land Company, has seen the rapid
rise in area property values, having worked for Moser Enterprises as a
partner on MPI's Grand Reserve subdivision in Yorkville and other local
projects. He also knows future county residents will need access to
regional transportation.
Zwemke learned about the Plano location in July 2005 from
Schaumburg-based property speculator Ron Marsh, who negotiated with
property owners, including Klatt, to secure a site for a future
development.
Zwemke purchased the initial 590 acres for his Galena Road project, to
be known as North Country, in August 2005 for about $23,000 per acre.
He acquired the property from Hastert's trust in December.
"We think we made a smart purchase," Zwemke said. "(The economics of
the area) adds up to one of the strengths of the site because of its
potential."
That potential includes possible access to the Prairie Parkway at
Galena Road, which the Kendall County Board endorsed last month, even
though IDOT does not include the interchange in its current plans.
The North Country project, currently at the Plano Plan Commission
stage, envisions a mix of 1,635 homes with neighborhood shopping on 33
acres of commercial space along Galena Road at Little Rock Road.
The subdivision would be about three miles west of the Prairie Parkway,
though Zwemke said he expects the project to be completed before the
expressway is built and doesn't foresee the commercial component
expanding in scope, even if an interchange were ever built at Galena
Road.
"I'm aware that some of the local people wanted (an interchange), and
certainly, we'd be in favor of that," Zwemke said. "If there is an
interchange, I presume that would open up some more commercial
opportunities near that interchange. (But) it wouldn't change (our)
plans materially."
Route 34 sticker shock
Farther south along the parkway's protected corridor, which was
recorded in early 2002, anticipation of a major Prairie Parkway
intersection at Route 34 already is shaping the types of development
being proposed.
Real estate values have skyrocketed with smaller parcels along Route 34
selling for between $500,000 and $750,000 per acre in recent years.
Though the Prairie Parkway's effect on farmland value is difficult to
measure, certain developments have been drawn to the Plano-Yorkville
corridor because of the potential expressway, according to Lynn
Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corp.
Two examples would be the Kendall Marketplace development and
Rush-Copley Medical Center campus at Route 34 and Cannonball Trail,
about three miles east of the proposed intersection. Kendall
Marketplace will include movie theaters, bookstores and other
"lifestyle-mall" type retailers that typically are found in regional
malls but are now moving to shopping centers near major transportation
hubs.
"There's two things the Prairie Parkway does," Dubajic said. "It
certainly moves people through the area and relieves traffic on Route
47. It will also allow people from outside that area to bring them more
regionally into Yorkville."
"I am very confident in saying that knowing that Prairie Parkway is
going to be built is something that made those sites very attractive to
both of those users," Dubajic added.
Another development in Plano is already in the works at Route 34 and
Needham Road, right at the edge of the future parkway intersection and
down the road from the future Plano campus of Waubonsee Community
College.
Kingsland Development Corp. is planning to build upscale hotels,
offices, big box retail and residential neighborhoods on 523 acres of
land owned by former Kendall County Board Chairman Kenneth Corbin and
his family.
"We're going to try to create a gateway type of access right there,"
said Kingsland Development President Phil Passon. "We're still a little
bit up in the air about what (land) the Prairie Parkway is going to
take, but it will obviously enhance the values greatly in that area."
Passon agreed the parkway has stimulated the development of the
property, which will take eight to 10 years to complete. Even so, the
project will include about 1,200 residential units because "we just
know that we need to build residential to get the retailers," Passon
added.
A landfill and a truck stop
Most of the farmland for miles around the intersection of Route 71 and the Prairie Parkway is owned by businessman Don Hamman.
Hamman made headlines last year after announcing plans to build the
first Kendall County landfill on 220 acres near Route 71 and Sleepy
Hollow Road just west of the parkway corridor. He expects to submit a
formal proposal to the County Board in the coming months.
The Prairie Parkway could certainly benefit a nearby landfill, but
Hamman emphasized that he's been planning to turn one of the farms in
that area into a waste disposal site since the early 1990s.
As for the rest of his 2,200 acres of land around a potentially
lucrative intersection, Hamman said he envisions more of a truck stop
with motels, restaurants and possibly some office complexes.
The intersection development would be "more for people coming off the
parkway," Hamman said. "You've got to get the rooftops to get the big
boxes."
Existing businesses that rely on trucking also would benefit from the
parkway and its interchanges, as expressways have become as vital a
commodity to commerce as rivers were in the Industrial Age.
Farmer John Rosenwinkel of Plano foresees the benefit of the parkway
for his agribusiness. Hauling grain from the north end of Kendall
County down to Morris along crowded county roads sometimes can take as
long as hauling grain into Chicago, even though it's almost half the
distance.
"To me it's looking like a plus," Rosenwinkel said.
At the same time, Rosenwinkel knows his business is diminishing as more
farmland is developed. Having moved to Kendall County almost 50 years
ago when his parents sold farmland near O'Hare International Airport to
developers, he knows it's only a matter of time, especially as the
asking price for his 300 acres near Plano have more than tripled in the
last five years to nearly $40,000.
'Right now, it's beans'
Though many, especially parkway opponents, have wondered about property
speculation along the protected corridor, it's difficult to know who,
if anyone, has been buying property in reaction to the Prairie Parkway,
especially farther away from cities. Most farmers contract their land
to speculators like Marsh before any transactions appear in public
record.
Yorkville farmer Bob Dhuse, who owns about 160 acres, said that, of the
1,200 acres he farms, two-thirds is already under contract to be sold
to developers. But most of that speculation has occurred closer to
Yorkville, and no one has even approached him yet about the 114 acres
he owns right at the intersection of Route 47 and the proposed parkway
route.
Still, he expects to sell the property at one point, and why not?
"All the housing out in Yorkville plus the parkway, it's taking land to prices I thought I'd never see," Dhuse said.
One possible reason Dhuse hasn't heard from investors interested in his
potential intersection property is that IDOT has yet to select a final
route for the parkway, though early feedback seems to indicate the
frontrunner is the route that closely follows the original protected
corridor alignment, which runs south of Yorkville to Interstate 80 near
Minooka.
One property near the intersection of Route 47 and the proposed route
was purchased in 2003 for $11,000 per acre by an investment company
based in Vernon Hills, but a co-trustee for the company said the
investors weren't even aware of the Prairie Parkway at the time of
purchase.
Several other properties along Route 47 south of Yorkville have been
purchased in the last five years, though most still belong to the
original families who have owned them for generations.
Even farther south, where the parkway corridor crosses Route 52, there is even less evidence of speculation.
Former Kendall County Board member Tom Fletcher, who owns about 300
acres near the Route 52 intersection, said he hasn't heard about any
offers from developers.
Fletcher's family has owned the farmland for generations, though he
agrees that some of the land will need to be sacrificed for the
expressway.
All Fletcher can hope is that future generations promote responsible
economic development in the area — something that isn't
"reckless" — but "right now, it's beans."
"My generation prefers to continue farming," Fletcher said. "I'm in no rush to cash in."