October 11, 2014 – Rob Earnshaw
An Illinois manufacturer is relocating to Hammond.
The City Council recently passed an ordinance approving a property tax abatement for American Stair, a Romeoville-based company that designs and fabricates steel stairs and railings.
American Stair is receiving $1.725 million from both the Regional Development Authority and the Economic Development for Growing Economy. The company will pay current taxes on the property but the city is granting it a 100 percent property tax abatement for 10 years on the increased accessed value resulting from rehabilitation or redevelopment.
“It’s a great project for us,” Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. “It’s a building that needs a great project. It makes total sense to us.”
Officials said American Stair is making a $3 million investment and relocating 135 employees to Hammond with expectations to hire 45 new employees over the next three years.
American Stair will be at 3520 Calumet Ave., according to the ordinance approved by the council.
The council also approved a rezoning ordinance that paves the way for Charter Fitness to take over the Stardust Bowl site on Columbia Avenue. In September James Gorski, principal architect on the project, said Charter Fitness planned to transform the site “almost immediately.”