KTJ Partner Carmen P. Forte, Jr. serves as Village Attorney for the Village of Campton Hills. He guided the Village through the establishment of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district and the negotiation and approval of a redevelopment agreement with Shodeen Construction Company, L.L.C. for the LaFox of Campton Hills project, a phased single-family home and townhome residential redevelopment of approximately 960 acres in Kane County comprising up to 900 residential dwelling units. The development includes an unprecedented open space component of over 50%, including the transfer of nearly half the property to the Kane County Forest Preserve District for the maintenance of passive open space, adding to the nearly 23,000 acres of land owned by the Forest Preserve.

The firm handled the full TIF process under the Illinois Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act, including coordination with the Village’s TIF consultant, SB Friedman Development Advisors, over a nearly two-year process to bring the project to fruition. The redevelopment agreement itself required extended negotiation with the developer over a $54 million incentives cap applicable to the development, including the reimbursement of eligible redevelopment project costs for sanitary sewer, water and roadway improvements to support the project. As Campton Hills is a non-home-rule municipality that has never levied a property tax, these negotiations required careful review to achieve a favorable result for all parties involved, while carefully managing a considerable influx in the Village’s small population. The overall construction costs attributed to the project will approach $1 billion.

The project also involved a substantial intergovernmental component, including:

• An intergovernmental agreement with the Kane County Division of Transportation covering roadway improvements and jurisdictional transfers along various nearby roads
• Coordination with a to-be-activated sanitary district that will provide service to the redevelopment area
• Negotiation with the affected school and other taxing districts regarding the treatment of their interests in the TIF district.

The Village Board approved the redevelopment agreement in July 2026, clearing the way for the project to proceed.