Jeff Kolkey

Rockford Register Star USA TODAY NETWORK

With a massive investment in southwest Rockford on the line, a split City Council have for a week engaged in a divisive debate that strained relationships to the breaking point.

Milwaukee-based developer J. Jeffers & Company failed to reach an accommodation with labor leaders, and aldermen were dragged into a bitter dispute. They were faced with what for many of them was a gut-wrenching decision: Whether to vote for a project labor agreement that threatened to kill a massive redevelopment project.

It was portrayed as a choice between supporting working men and women or a transformative project in a poor neighborhood. Elected officials accused each other of lying and misleading the public. When a community leader in an interview with news media said he would “call out” Ald. Chad Tuneberg, R-3, and promised to point out his family home, Tuneberg was forced to request police protection because his family felt unsafe. Ald. Bill Rose, D-9, said he was so deeply disappointed City Council had endangered the project that he thought maybe he should leave Rockford altogether.

This week as City Council debated and ultimately approved the development agreement, Mayor Tom McNamara reminded aldermen several times to direct their comments to him as chairman and not to each other in an effort to improve civility.

Time to heal

Ald. Gina Meeks, D-12, said despite long-standing ties to union labor, she was among the aldermen who chose not to “jeopardize progress and transformation of the southwest side.” Meeks said the decision of other aldermen to risk the project “will never sit well with me.” Now Rockford must work to mend its fractured relationships, Meeks said. “It was hard to experience. It was divisive and difficult to come back from,” Meeks said. “Nonetheless, those who voted with our conscience had an amazing week. We experienced unity and connection with different people across this community, diverse press conferences, positive reflections and heartfelt speeches, while the prevailing seven experienced great opposition for their decision. And I don’t feel bad about that. But I also believe we can all heal, continue to collaborate and best represent the citizens of Rockford, Illinois.”

What was approved?

Jeffers officials have touted a project that promises turn the dilapidated former BarberColman campus off South Main Street into Colman Yards, a thriving $430 million neighborhood with apartments, townhouses, businesses and recreation areas. They had threatened to walk away from the deal if a project labor agreement were made a requirement of the project moving forward.

It would be completed in phases over a decade and include 500,000 square feet of historic rehabilitation, 1.5 million square feet of new construction, 900 multifamily units and

130,000 square-feet of commercial space, as well as public parks and redeveloped.

riverfront. But approved Monday was a development agreement covering a $170.3 million.

First phase of the project:

Phase 1A: Expected to begin this summer and be done in late 2024, Phase 1A includes

renovation of three historic buildings into 215 apartments, a rooftop deck, co-working

space and construction of a 336space parking garage.

 Phase 1B: Scheduled to begin in January of 2025 and cost $70.3 million, includes rehabilitation of all of the six remaining historic buildings. When complete, it will house an additional 119 apartments, as well as space for a restaurant, events and retail.

 Future phases: If and when future phases proceed, it would include new construction on

the remainder of the property. Officials said the timing of future phases which were not part of the development agreement is dependent on market forces. It will include new construction and parking, as well as 43 three-flat buildings and 74 townhomes.

Incentive package included Under the agreement, Rockford will provide two no interest loans totaling about $10.2 million, roughly $3.5 million in public infrastructure and a $6 million advance on tax increment financing funds that would be repaid if and when a second phase of the project proceeds. The loans have to be repaid. Other funding sources include a $4 million state grant secured by state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, a federal $6.5 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revolving loan, a $2 million legal settlement, $47.2 million in historic tax credits, a traditional $45.1 million loan, and $14.8 million in private equity from Jeffers and its investors.

How we got here

In a show of unity, the development agreement itself was approved on a unanimous vote with the support of all 14 aldermen. But getting there was tumultuous. Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, who on July 10 seconded Ald. Jonathan Lagemann’s motion to require J. Jeffers to enter into a collective bargaining agreement as a condition of its project moving forward, said he had made no friends. Bonne said he “felt like a man without a country” as he angered one side of the debate by backing the amendment and then the other by agreeing on Monday to make a motion to reconsider. Bonne said he made the motion to allow Ald. Janessa Wilkins, D-7, to participate in the vote. She wasn’t able to attend City Council a week ago because of a family emergency. Bonne said Jeffers had placed City Council in a terrible position by delivering a “ticking time bomb” of a development agreement with a complex financial stack and “without buy-in from the building trades.”

“As in most of my career in journalism, you knew you were doing your job if both sides were angry with you, so I am hoping the same proves true tonight,” Bonne said.

How they voted

The motion to reconsider the amendment was approved on a 13-1 vote with Logemann providing the lone vote against it. Logemann had made a passionate speech about unionism and its role in creating the middle class a week ago during debate on City

Council floor.

This triggered a 7-7 vote on the amendment itself. The amendment would require Jeffers to sign a project labor agreement agreeable to the Northwestern Illinois Building Trades Unions. Terms of the agreement were not specified. Voting for the requirement: Jonathan Logemann, D-2, Chad Tuneberg, R-3, Kevin Frost, R-4, Karen Hoffman, D-8, Frank Beach, R-10, Isidro Barrios, D-11 and Mark Bonne, D14. Voting against it: Tim Durkee, R-1, Gabrielle Torina, D-5, Aprel Prunty, D-6, Janessa Wilkins, D-7, Bill Rose, D-9, Gina Meeks, D-12 and Jeff Bailey, D-13. Saying Rockford is a “proudly union town,” McNamara broke the tie by casting his vote against the labor amendment and paving a way for the development to move forward. “This has been one of the most engaging and difficult discussions that has taken place since I have been on council as alderman or as mayor,” McNamara said. “It saddens me to see we are in this situation because I think this really should be a communitywide celebration.”

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com