Economic Development In Southwestern Illinois

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Over the last year, Keith Moran, president of Moran Economic Development in Edwardsville, has been working with cities, counties and numerous taxing districts throughout Southwestern Illinois on enterprise zones, business districts and tax increment finance districts.    “There are a lot of TIF districts that are expiring these days,” Moran said. “I’ve…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Work continues on the restructuring of the Alton Square Mall. The shopping center, which was originally developed in 1979, was acquired by Hull Property Group, a Georgia-based retail real estate company, in 2015. Hull specializes in renovating and revitalizing declining regional malls and began work on the Alton mall last year.   …

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Big things are building in Shiloh. The campus of Memorial East Hospital is booming. Last year BJC HealthCare and Washington University Pediatrics, in partnership with St. Louis Children’s Hospital, opened a new pediatric center there. This is the first Washington University Pediatrics multispecialty office outside of Missouri, giving Illinois residents direct…

By ALAN J ORTBALS    The city of Highland recently amended its business district. There were two, business district A and B. Now those have been combined plus the overall district has been extended to the south to add about 13 acres of open land that Mallord Hubbard, the city’s economic and business recruitment coordinator, thinks…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    The new Ameren Illinois’ corporate headquarters in Eastport Plaza in Collinsville has been completed and 350 people are going to work there every day. Most of those jobs came to Collinsville from Ameren’s St. Louis headquarters. While the 48,000-square-foot office building is in a TIF district, City Manager Mitch Bair pointed…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    The Montclaire Shopping Center on Troy Road in Edwardsville is undergoing a $2.1 million renovation with the city’s assistance via the designation of a business district under Illinois state law. Developed in 1958, the shopping center was the city’s first such retail development, turning 60 years old last year.    “When the…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Major developments are imminent in O’Fallon’s Mid-America Enterprise Zone, and the city is moving as rapidly as possible to bring them to fruition.    TriStar, a St. Louis real estate development company that created the Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, is working with the city of O’Fallon to attract light industrial/warehouse developments…