Willowbrook, Illinois officials cite a recently expired special taxing district a success as it helped create a premier shopping center on a site that was once contaminated and vacant. “It really helped transform the site into something great,” Village Administrator Tim Halik said. The land at Route 83 and Plainfield Road, which became part of a tax increment financing district in 1990, is now the Willowbrook Town Center mall. Environmental cleanup at the current Willowbrook Town Center mall site began in 2006. “We learned that there was a fuel depot there in the 1940s and there were issues with contamination on some areas of the properties,” Halik said. “Developers didn’t want to build at the site, so we had to do something.”
Willowbrook Town Center opened in the fall of 2007 and became one of the areas highest traffic shopping destinations. The 200,000+ sq. ft. center features a dynamic tenant mix, including such national, regional and local tenants such as Michaels, Sports Authority, Bed Bath & Beyond, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Starbucks and more. Willowbrook Town Center serves a growing population of over 92,000 residents within a three-mile radius, and an additional daytime population of 33,000 employed by the area’s 3,000-plus businesses.
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