Grant program has brought 2 new restaurants to Highland Park. Is that enough? City Council is torn

Highland Park City Council members appeared divided Monday as they discussed whether to let a grant program expire that has given out more than $2 million to new restaurants in the city.

City staff recommended that the council allow its Boutique Incentive Grant to expire this month. Highland Park launched the program in 2023 to put the city “on the radar for highly desirable, established restaurant groups; acting as catalysts for business attraction,” a city memo shows. 

The council disbursed $1.5 million in grant funds in January 2024 to Ballyhoo Hospitality to open DeNucci’s Italian HP and another $750,000 from the same program in January 2025 to Amy Morton to eventually open The Barn Steakhouse.

The economic incentive program was designed to attract two to three “sought-after” restaurant groups over the course of two to three years before expiring in fiscal year 2027. 

City Manager Ghida Neukirch said during the July 14 committee of the whole session that the city does not currently have a line item budgeted for the Boutique Incentive Grant to continue, so keeping it in place would require reallocating funds from other Highland Park programming.

But Councilmembers Barisa Bruckman, Annette Lidawer, Andrés Tapia, Yumi Ross and Jon Center all indicated support for extending the grant program so it can hit its three-year mark or fund the opening of a third restaurant.

“One can argue that two (new restaurants) would be kind of good, but three starts to be a tipping point,” Tapia said. 

“You’re looking for a tipping point in the City of Highland Park for businesses around us to say, ‘That’s a great place to invest, they’re serious, have good programs, they pay attention, they give breathing room for the program to work or not work,’” Tapia continued.

Center echoed that it would be “premature” to halt the grant, and Lidawer said she’s pleased with what the Boutique Incentive has already accomplished. Bruckman suggested the grant could continue with a smaller disbursement of funds. 

Siding with the city staff’s recommendation, Mayor Nancy Rotering and Councilmember Anthony Blumberg both expressed concerns about where the city funds would come from if the council decides to press forward with supporting another restaurant group. 

“This program is fiscally irresponsible,” Blumberg said. “I don’t believe municipalities should be funding private businesses and that’s what this is. And you’re funding private businesses that historically are difficult, dangerous businesses that have a high degree of failure.” 

“Given the budget constraints that we know we’re up against for this coming year, given the volatility of external forces and what those impacts will be on the community, to me it feels like we achieved our goal,” Rotering said.

The Boutique Incentive required additional investment from the grantee restaurant group’s owner and included a “clawback” measure for the city to recuperate funds if the restaurant closed within 10 years of opening in Highland Park. It has awarded out $2.25 million since 2024.

Assistant City Manager Erin Jason said in December 2024 that 55 new businesses opened in Highland Park in 2024, as the occupancy rate increased to 93 percent. Per Jason, the city has just over 2.1 million square feet of total retail space.

As the discussion over the Boutique Incentive took place during a committee of the whole session, no action was taken on Monday. An official vote on whether to extend the grant will likely take place at an upcoming City Council meeting. 

The council reviewed two other of its economic incentive programs on Monday: its Food & Beverage Interior Improvement and Expansion Grant and its Exterior Improvement Grant. 

City staff recommended the Food & Beverage Interior Improvement and Expansion Grant program, which has allocated $655,164 since it was adopted in August 2024, to continue in fiscal year 2026. 

City staff also recommended its Exterior Improvement grant, which has allocated $126,273 since it was adopted in January 2024, no longer include permit and license fees as an eligible expenditure to be funded by the program.

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