"ALE Solutions cornerstone tenant"

James Fuller -

St. Charles officials placed their bets on ALE Solutions living up to its corporate name for the long-stalled First Street redevelopment.

Aldermen gave initial approval Tuesday for a new development deal that features ALE Solutions as the cornerstone tenant that will fuel the rest of the project. The company is already headquartered in the downtown.

Owners feared they would have to relocate out of the city as its workforce continues to grow. Employees will instead move to three floors of new office space on First Street as the tenant and owner of one of three new mixed-use buildings called for in the plan.

City officials have said it's the company's eventual ownership of that office space that gave them enough confidence to overlook the failed first attempt by the development team pitching the project.

First Street Redevelopment II LLC is the same team the city fired last year as the third phase of the city's crown jewel development stalled through the poor economy. Bob Rasmussen, spokesman for the team, promised aldermen a successful venture this time around. But the deal shows city officials are hedging their bets.

The developers recently transferred ownership of the former Harris Bank property to the city. They are also capping at $60,000 the city's financial contribution to clean up known existing contaminants at the site.

The city will also pay the development team $1.9 million to construct a new city parking garage.

All those elements mean the city will have ownership over all the clean land and public improvements and have additional new parking to attract a new team if First Street Development stumbles again.

The agreement also covers only the long-stalled third phase of the development. There are no commitments to the developer regarding the remaining two phases originally envisioned for the project.

Aldermen had mostly cosmetic questions about the project Tuesday night. That indicates final approval will come when aldermen next discuss the project on March 2.

But downtown business owners were already showing the optimism about the First Street project moving toward completion.

JP Jewelers' James Petterec was one of several owners who praised the plan.

"Our downtown businesses are the precious gems of our city," he said. "An empty store is like a smile with teeth missing. It's truly embarrassing and unattractive. I feel it's imperative that the First Street project goes forward and is completed as soon as possible. We need to build a retail shopping destination. The time is now. We can't wait any longer to get the project going."