Rockford rejects labor agreement, approves Colman Yards plan

Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star
Updated ·2 min read

An amendment that threatened to kill a plan to redevelop the dilapidated former Barber-Colman campus in southwest Rockford has been thrown out.

Mayor Tom McNamara broke a tie vote Monday at City Council to reject the amendment that required Milwaukee-based developer J. Jeffers & Company to enter into a project labor agreement with union labor on the $170 million Phase 1 of the Barber-Colman redevelopment plan.

After striking down the amendment, which was added to the development agreement last week, City Council unanimously approved the development agreement for what has been dubbed Colman Yards.

McNamara promised to hold Jeffers accountable for the commitments it made in the agreement.

More: Barber-Colman showdown: Here's what Rockford City Council could face

This is an artist's rendering of what the exterior of Colman Yards, a potential $430 million redevelopment of the dilapidated former Barber-Colman factory campus along the Rock River off South Main Street in Rockford could look like.
This is an artist's rendering of what the exterior of Colman Yards, a potential $430 million redevelopment of the dilapidated former Barber-Colman factory campus along the Rock River off South Main Street in Rockford could look like.

Jeffers had threatened to walk away from the project if the City Council required a project labor agreement as a condition of its development agreement with the city.

Ald. Kevin Frost, R-4, and Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, said it was Jeffers that had declined to work with labor unions to work out their differences.

"The developer chose not to sit down with labor and work out an agreement," Frost said. "That's why we are here. This one got hijacked and brought in front of us because calls weren't returned, general contractors were changed."

As part of the agreement, J. Jeffers agrees to buy the more than 22-acre former factory campus of dilapidated and graffiti-stained buildings from the city for $500,000.

Over a decade, the redevelopment project could transform a series of abandoned factory buildings along the Rock River into a thriving neighborhood with 900 residential units, businesses and parks.

Some members of Rockford City Council joined unions representing the construction trades last week in demanding a project labor agreement and made it a condition of the development agreement that covers the redevelopment of nine historic buildings and the construction of a parking garage.

Under the new 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.

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

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Controversial vote paves path for Colman Yards