Litchfield OKs Rezoning, $244,860 TIF Deal to Turn Blighted Building Into Apartments

Litchfield City Council Meeting | July 16, 2026

Article Summary: The Litchfield City Council approved rezoning 213 S. Jefferson St. from single family to multifamily and authorized a development agreement with E.D. Investments, Inc. providing up to $244,860 in TIF 3 reimbursement to convert the vacant commercial building — located next to the new elementary school — into apartments.

213 S. Jefferson Redevelopment Key Points:

• The council rezoned 213 S. Jefferson St. from S-1 Single Family to M-F Multi-Family to allow an apartment conversion.
• A development agreement with E.D. Investments, Inc. caps city TIF 3 reimbursement at $244,860, or 50% of eligible redevelopment costs, whichever is less, paid in one installment after completion.
• Total project costs are estimated at $514,720; terms require completion within 12 months, six years of continued ownership and no short-term rentals.
• Developer Steven Dougherty, Litchfield’s former mayor, told the council the building housed a squatter for two years and had its wiring stripped and sold.

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield City Council on Thursday, July 16, 2026, approved a pair of measures to redevelop a blighted commercial building at 213 S. Jefferson St. into apartments: an ordinance rezoning the property from S-1 Single Family to M-F Multi-Family, and an ordinance authorizing Mayor Jacob Fleming to execute a Tax Increment Financing development agreement with E.D. Investments, Inc.

According to the agenda packet, E.D. Investments is under contract to purchase the property to convert it into four to five apartment units; apartment complexes are disallowed in the single-family district, requiring the rezoning. At the meeting, developer Steven Dougherty — Litchfield’s former mayor — said he is now looking at “maybe doing six apartments in there.”

The city administrator told the council the building sits next to the new elementary school, and keeping the area residential made sense. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of the rezoning. Alderperson Sara Zumwalt moved the rezoning, seconded by Alderperson Marilyn Sisson, and it passed unanimously.

Development Agreement Terms

The development agreement covers a project with total estimated costs of $514,720, according to the packet. The city agrees to reimburse the developer up to $244,860, or 50% of TIF-eligible redevelopment project costs, whichever is less, in a one-time lump sum commencing within 12 months of project completion. A signed certificate of occupancy is required before any TIF payment. The agreement requires substantial completion within 12 months, requires the developer to maintain ownership for a minimum of six years, prohibits short-term rentals on the property, and bars the developer from contesting the property’s taxes for 10 years from occupancy. The packet states the reimbursement is a limited obligation payable solely from TIF 3 revenues, not a general obligation of the city. Termination provisions allow the city to exit the agreement if ownership transfers to parties the document labels “undesirable,” a list that includes felons, litigants against the city and “former, current, or past Illinois public political figures.”

The Economic Development Commission met July 8 and voted unanimously to recommend the project, according to a letter from Chairman Lonnie Bathurst, who wrote that the “heavily damaged property is located immediately next to the new Litchfield grade school,” that the building is “part of the downtown blight,” and that the community is “in desperate need of good quality affordable housing.”

Fleming noted the agreement uses TIF 3, which he said has seen far less activity than the city’s larger TIF 1. “It will be nice to put some of those funds to use,” he said, adding the city might have to move funds around. Dougherty responded that there “aren’t really that many opportunities for use of that money in the TIF 3 area either.”

Dougherty told the council the building deteriorated badly before his purchase. “There was a squatter in there for two years with no plumbing, no heating, no air, no wiring, because he took it out and sold it,” he said. He said facade improvements he made downtown 25 years ago have been contributing to the TIF fund for two and a half decades, and this building will do the same once complete. “I get two, three calls a week, people looking for housing,” he said. “It’ll serve a purpose, and we sure don’t need another empty storefront.”

An alderperson said she lives in a house Dougherty refurbished and praised his work. Zumwalt moved the development agreement, seconded by Huffman, and it passed unanimously on a roll call of Zumwalt, Huffman, Hughes, Garcia and Sisson.