Montgomery approves plans, incentive pact for Cooper’s Hawk winery and restaurant

The Montgomery Village Board has approved plans for the development of a Cooper’s Hawk winery and restaurant in the Ogden Hill shopping center at the intersection of Route 30 and Route 34.

In two 5-0 ballots Monday evening, June 12, the board approved the firm’s request for a liquor license, a special use permit for outdoor dining and a package of variances from the village’s exterior facade and signage requirements.

The board also voted 4-1 to approve the firm’s request for a 15-year economic incentive agreement worth up to $750,000.

Trustee Matt Bauman was absent from the meeting and did not participate in the ballots. Trustee Tom Betsinger cast the lone negative ballot on the motion to approve the economic incentive agreement.

Cooper’s Hawk currently operates 16 wineries and restaurants in the Chicago area, as well as other locations across the country.

In addition to a wine bar, each location offers a “modern, casual dining experience with warm hospitality in an inviting upscale setting” with “each dish made fresh in our scratch kitchen,” according to the firm’s website.

In Montgomery, the firm is proposing to construct a winery and restaurant with just less than 10,000 square feet of floor space, including a 719-square-foot outdoor seating area.

The board approved the firm’s request to create a new Class T liquor license classification to accommodate the winery and its wine club.

The Class T license will allow the firm to offer a wine-tasting bar in the retail area of the business, permit the retail sale of wine in original packages (not for consumption on-site) and the retail sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises in the restaurant area.

The firm estimates its investment in the Montgomery location will be about $8 million and the business will generate annual sales of $7 million to $8 million while creating 150 full-and-part-time jobs.

Under terms of the economic incentive agreement the village will rebate 75% of the sales tax revenues to Cooper’s Hawk for the first five years of the pact with the village keeping the remaining 25%. During years 6 to 10 of the agreement, the village will split the sales tax revenues 50-50 with the firm, and from years 11 to 15, the village will receive 75% of the sales tax revenues with the Cooper’s Hawk receiving 25%.

The agreement sets a cap of $750,000 on the amount of sales tax revenues that will be rebated to the firm.

According to a village staff memo, the village will receives $600,000 in sales tax revenues from Cooper’s Hawk’s over the 15-year period of the agreement, based on the firm’s sales tax revenues projections.

In casting a “no” vote on the motion to approve the agreement, Betsinger said he found it to be “exceptionally generous” given the firm’s revenue projections for the Montgomery location.

In addition, the memo notes the agreement does not include revenues from the village’s non-home rule sales tax, which funds the village’s Infrastructure Repair Program and Property Tax Rebate program. The village is estimated to collect $1.2 million in non-home rule sales tax revenues from the Cooper’s Hawk over the 15-year life of the incentive agreement, according to the memo.

During a public hearing June 1, the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend the Village Board approve Cooper Hawk’s request for a special use to allow for outdoor dining area and the variances.