QuikTrip fueling center moves forward in Bridgeview

By Steve Metsch

Bridgeview Trustee Mike Pticek was so excited to attend the latest village board meeting, he canceled a doctor’s appointment.

Pticek did not want to miss a chance to vote on selling land to a developer expected to bring plenty of tax money to village coffers.

A fueling center on a block-long site along busy Harlem Avenue – with the potential financial windfall of property, sales and motor fuel taxes – will do that to a village trustee.

“I’m excited. What a deal,” Pticek said.

“(This) brings additional money to the village. We can pay our employees, buy equipment, fire trucks and all that, help put more roads in. It just takes the pressure off,” Pticek said.

At its June 21 matinee meeting, village trustees voted 6-0 to approve selling two small parcels of land on the site to QuikTrip for $100,000.

Mayor Steve Landek said the Oklahoma-based company has submitted plans, which are being reviewed by village staff.

“It’s not quite there yet. This is one more piece of the puzzle,” Landek said. “As I learned in the (State) Senate, it’s not soup yet.”

“But the oven’s on. It’s cooking,” quipped Mike Thiessen, an economic development advisor for the village.

Tax incentives are part of the deal.

A motor fuel tax credit would sunset upon the first to occur: $1.75 million in motor fuel tax generated by the fueling center, or five years from its opening.

According to the village, taking inflation into account, the $1.75 million target may be hit around the third year of business.

Speaking to the board, Thiessen said the QuikTrip fueling center will be for trucks and cars.

Landek asked if there will be overnight parking of trucks. Overnight parking would not be allowed, Thiessen said.

“This is not a truck stop. This is a fueling center,” Thiessen said.

The site is on the west side of Harlem Avenue between 74th and 75th streets.

“Property taxes will be up. Motor fuel taxes will be up. Sales taxes will be up. It’ll be a big (tax revenue) generator for the village,” he added.

“It looks like an L,” Thiessen said of the village parcels at 7420 S. Harlem and 7230 W. 74th Street that were sold to QuikTrip.

The sale will give QuikTrip a rectangle-shaped property along Harlem where it will build the fueling center that will include a convenience store.

“It will be fantastic for them. Fantastic. A lot of traffic. … There’s plenty of truck traffic (on Harlem),” Thiessen said.

Right now, the site is home to vacant businesses that includes a lighting store, indoor gun range, and a Thai restaurant.

The new QuikTrip fueling center will be kitty-corner from the Pilot Travel Center at 7501 S. Harlem, which opened several years ago.

Thiessen said the two fueling centers would not be competitive. “We see them as being complementary to each other rather than competitive,” he said. “One is for southbound traffic and one is for northbound traffic.”

He said there has been an increase in traffic on Harlem because of nearby distribution developments and he said an ongoing Federal Express development will add even more.

According to the company’s website, QuikTrip has more than 1,000 locations in 17 states nationwide. The newest in the area is in Bellwood at 1040 S. 25th Ave.

After the meeting, village trustee Claudette Struzik said it’s “always good” to bring in more tax revenue.

“Bridgeview stays on top of everything, always looking for something. There was hardly nothing there, just a lot of empty land and worthless stuff,” she said.

Struzik, who was using a cane, is recovering from a bout with Legionnaires Disease, which she said she contracted on a recent trip to Michigan.

“I was in the hospital for five days, on oxygen. It took a long time (to recover). It’s like pneumonia, but the worst kind you can get. It nearly killed me,” Struzik said.

In other business, the board approved hiring John Snyder as the village’s plumbing inspector.

“Mr. Snyder has been a village resident for many years. He’s a licensed plumber (and) has all the necessary qualifications for the job,” Landek said.