The adaptive re-use of a vacant Chatham department store as a 1,000-job Discover customer care center would be made possible by a property tax incentive introduced to the City Council recntly by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The Class 7(b) property tax incentive would support DL3 Chatham LLC’s acquisition and renovation of a 127,000-sq.-ft., former Target store as a customer care center for Discover Financial Services.
The $45 million project would employ customer service agents starting at $17 per hour.
The Cook County Class 7(b) tax incentive lowers property taxes for 12 years on qualified commercial development projects. The incentive would reduce property taxes on the site by approximately $2.48 million over the next 12 years.
The call center, which would include about 5,000 sq. ft. of space for community use, is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year. The building has been vacant for two years.
