Second TIF injection for WaterSaver

Commission OK’s $5.2M for 45,000 square foot addition to West Erie facility

08/11/2010 10:00 PM

By IAN FULLERTON
Contributing Reporter

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WaterSaver Faucet Co. want to add 45,000 square feet to their building at 701 W. Erie.

The city’s Community Development Commission Tuesday signed off on a second dose of subsidies toward an expansion plan for a River North faucet manufacturing company.

The commission OK’d a funding agreement sending $5.2 million in tax increment financing funds go to WaterSaver Faucet Co. for a 45,000 square foot build-out of their facility at 701 W. Erie.

Established in 1946, the family-owned WaterSaver is the world’s largest manufacturer of faucets, valves and safety equipment for use in science laboratories. The company employs 200 workers between their 79,200-square-foot facility at Erie Street and their subsidiary, Guardian Equipment, located at 1140 N. North Branch.

The TIF injection will be the second for WaterSaver, who received $3.75 million in city assistance to develop the Guardian Equipment facility in 2008. The company had been considering a move to a suburban location prior to that agreement, according to a representative from the Department of Community Development.

The second-phase expansion, which will entail a railroad parcel acquisition and the reconstruction of retaining walls at the facility, is expected to cost $26.2 million. WaterSaver President Steven Kersten estimated that construction on the project would take two years.

Employees at WaterSaver—76 percent of which are locally based—are paid between $11 and $25 an hour. The project is expected to create 200 temporary construction jobs.

At the hearing, Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) spoke in favor of the agreement, reminding the commission that the city needs to do everything it can to keep companies like WaterSaver afloat.

“Unfortunately, in these trying times, we don’t have a lot of new businesses,” Burnett said. “Our main goal is keep who we have and help them to sustain themselves in this challenging economy.”

Commissioner Marina Carrott asked if the expansion would be accompanied by additional job creation at the Erie Street facility, which employs 160 workers.

At this point, WaterSaver hoped to retain its current staffing level, Kersten said, citing the business as “a lagging indicator of the economy.”

“Until now, we have been filling orders that have started prior to the economic downturn,” Kersten said. “We’re expecting the bottom to fall out of the business at any minute.”

Responding to another question, Kersten added that WaterSaver is currently involved with several job placement programs which hire graduates from local vocational schools.

Mike Holzer, a director for the non-profit Local Economic and Employment Development Council, of which Kersten is a board member, said that businesses like WaterSaver are “the kind of manufacturing firm that the LEED council and the city seeks to retain and help grow.”

“This investment will position them to compete globally in their very expertise, manufactured to the highest standards,” he added.

A DCD representative said that the TIF payments could be suspended if WaterSaver defaulted on the redevelopment agreement at any point.


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