Apparel Redefined, a Crestwood company that screen-prints and embroiders custom sportswear, will move its headquarters to Homewood and build a new production facility, according to plans.
Founded in 1970, the company says it has outgrown its current location at 4611 136th St.
The Homewood Village Board approved development earlier this month on approximately 6.4 acres of village-owned land. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project in September.
“It’s a clean use,” Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld said. “It’s an ideal use for this site.”
The village said Apparel Redefined began negotiations with Homewood in 2022 and a redevelopment agreement was approved last October calling for the village to use tax increment financing to reimburse the company for some costs.
Apparel Redefined plans to renovate an existing office building at 1313 175th St. and build a 46,000-square-foot production facility next door, with the buildings connected by a two-level enclosed walkway.
The redevelopment agreement calls for Homewood to reimburse the company $1.5 million for issues related to soil conditions that hindered development of the vacant property where the factory will be located.
Homewood Village
Rendering of a headquarters building and factory that Apparel Redefined plans to build on land owned by the Village of Homewood. (Homewood Village)
The company will pay development costs upfront, including $5 million in TIF-eligible costs, according to the redevelopment agreement.
Such work eligible for TIF reimbursement would include items such as property improvements, public works and workforce training, according to the village.
In a TIF district, property tax revenues paid to the municipality and other taxing agencies, such as school, park and library districts, are frozen at current levels. The increase in tax revenue due to development, or augmentation, can be used to subsidize certain costs that would otherwise be borne entirely by the developer.
Apparel Redefined said the factory is built to accommodate more than 100 employees. There are now around sixty of them.
Members of South Suburbs for Greenspace, who fought against the Calumet Country Club redevelopment, expressed concerns about stormwater runoff.
The development site is in the Prairie Lakes Industrial Park, north of the Izaak Walton Reservation. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District approved a stormwater permit for the project because it determined that current stormwater retention in Prairie Lakes would be sufficient to manage runoff.
As large retention ponds have been created to manage the development of Prairie Lakes, Greenspace members have raised concerns about runoff into a pond that has brown colored water.
Hofeld said he walks his dogs in this area and said “the pond has always been brown,” which he attributes to tannic acid from vegetation such as leaves.
He said the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will test the pond water.
“Until the results are known, you should not jump to conclusions,” Hofeld said Thursday.
Apparel Redefined was founded in 1970 as Angie & Rich’s Custom Screening and Monogramming, according to company history.
Ownership changed in 2006 and the company was renamed Apparel Redefined, or A&R Screening.
Hofeld said some of the company’s products are aimed at high schools.
Over the past two years, it has been looking at sites for a new home, in southern Cook County, Will County and northwest Indiana, the company said.
The existing vacant land that Apparel Redefined will build on has been owned by Homewood for several years, but no development has occurred due to soil conditions, according to the village.
The plant will measure 270 by 170 feet, according to plans.
Apparel Redefined projects that, over the first 10 years, the development will generate more than $2.1 million in property taxes. Owned by the village, the property does not generate any property taxes.
Homewood officials said the vacant property, directly east of Homewood Disposal, is the last lot of the 178-acre Prairie Lake Business Park, part of which is on the site of the former Washington Park Race Track, a horse racing track that also hosted concerts. , destroyed by fire in 1977.
Apparel Redefined said it works with high schools to provide internships for students and has six student interns at Crestwood. The company said part-time internships can also become full-time employees at the company.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
