EVANSTON, IL — The City Council is considering granting $3 million in federal coronavirus relief aid to a pair of proposed developments — $2 million for Northlight Theatre to construct a new building downtown and $1 million for The Aux, a new 2nd Ward commercial hub dedicated to wellness and racial equity.
Backers of the two projects predict they will provide a boost to the local economy, and both grants set for approval Monday have been recommended by the city’s economic development committee.
Evanston received about $43 million in federal money through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or ARPA, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.
Following a series of discussions, the City Council last month adopted a plan for how to spend the money, dividing it up into more than a half-dozen categories.
At that point, about $22 million — a little over half of the total money — had been either requested or approved.
Grants for Northlight and The Aux would both come from the $10.1 million set aside under the plan for projects that address the negative economic impact of the pandemic. Of that money, $900,000 has already been approved, after alderpeople allocated it to a healthcare workforce development program and a guaranteed income program.
Northlight
Northlight Theatre’s plans to return to Evanston, where it was founded in 1974 and performed until relocating in 1997 to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, were delayed by two years by the coronavirus, according to a memo from Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak.
From March 2020 to August 2021, Northlight loss nearly 50 percent of all its operating revenue while live performances were shut down, Zalmezak said. Shows resumed last September, but ticket revenue is only about 55 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
Zalmezak said representatives of the theater reported they have raised $10.4 million so far of the $26 million in total project cost. The grant from the city would allow Northlight to start construction in the spring of 2023 and open for shows in the fall of 2024. (The theater’s lease in Skokie expires Aug. 30, 2024.)
Timothy Evans, executive director of Northlight, said the project will provide $56 million in new spending in Evanston and $450,000 in new tax revenue for the city over a five-year period. Backers say the development will bring 117 full-time jobs and more than 50,000 people a year to the city.
“A world-class theatre in downtown Evanston will elevate the city’s stature as a first-class, urban-ring city and cultural hub,” Evans said in a letter to Mayor Daniel Biss earlier this year. “Equally important is our goal of serving as a public square for the greater Evanston community. The need for a community to share in civil discourse on current and relevant issues has never been greater.”
Related: ‘Breakthrough Moment’: Northlight Purchases Evanston Theater Site
The Aux
The Aux is a community-owned commercial hub planned for an industrial building at 2223 Washington St. The 16,000-square-foot building north of the Sam’s Club was vacated by the departure of produce wholesaler E-Z Spuds.
According to its backers, the project will allow for more than 30 Black-owned businesses, with 10 anchor tenants and 20 more rotating ones. It will also provide entrepreneurial support to small business owners of color.
As of last month, The Aux had raised $1.7 million of its $7.3 million project budget, according to a table provided by Zalmezak. In addition to the $1 million grant from Evanston, the budget anticipates another $1 million in public support from county, state or federal funds.
The financial model of the project blends philanthropy and real estate equity. First, the project’s nonprofit partner, The Growing Season, buys the property. Then, a group of community stakeholders buy the building from the nonprofit, which funds its next project and allows the development to remain locally owned.
“The building will be designed to be a financially self-sufficient, tax-paying property once in full operation without ongoing subsidy, enabling market conditions to take root in places and ways traditionally abandoned by mainstream economic development practices,” according to a concept paper from last year.
According to the project budget, $1.5 million in equity will be raised locally through crowdfunding, with $500,000 coming from local angel investors.
Zalmezak said construction on the project is tentatively scheduled to start in November and take about a year, so the development could be ready for a grand opening in December 2023.
Earlier: How Will Evanston Spend Its $43 Million In Federal ARPA Funding?
Evaluations
City staff evaluated funding requests according to six criteria: feasibility, capacity of the organization, budget, return on investment, addressing inequities and community support.
The Aux plan scored 5/5 on budget, ability to address inequities and community support, 4/5 on capacity and return on investment and 3.5/5 on project feasibility.
Its unique business plan comes with some uncertainty, according to the evaluation, including the risk of revenue lost from business turnover.
“Furthermore, location will require significant marketing as it is hidden from automobile and foot traffic,” it said.
The Northlight proposal scored 5/5 in every category — except for its ability to address inequities.
“Northlight has committed to hire persons of color and to expand initiatives to attract a diverse audience and staff,” the evaluation noted. “The city should hold firm on these commitments considering the project overall does little to address this population.”
This article originally appeared on the Evanston Patch
