Des Plaines officials have paved the way for a German pharmaceutical company to receive the first of two expected tax breaks to lure the firm to town.

The city council this week endorsed Vetter Commercial Manufacturing’s application for a Cook County Class 6B tax incentive, which would lower the amount of property taxes the company pays over 12 years. Vetter, which fills and packs medical syringes, cartridges and vials, plans to purchase the vacant former Salvation Army property on the northwest corner of Algonquin and Mount Prospect roads, where it will relocate its United States headquarters.

Company officials say that deal is contingent upon getting the tax incentive from Cook County, which would lower the assessment of the property to 10 percent of market value for 10 years, then 15 percent in the 11th year and 20 percent in the 12th year. Property is normally assessed at 25 percent.

Without the tax break, Vetter would pay $2.7 million in property taxes, but with it, is expected to pay about $1 million.

The 17-acre property has been tax exempt for 25 years as it served as the Salvation Army’s Central territory administration headquarters before that moved to Hoffman Estates.

Vetter is also in line for a so-called EDGE grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. To be eligible for tax credits, the company must commit to making building improvements and creating jobs, though state officials have not yet revealed the amount of the incentive.

The firm says it plans to spend $350 million on the redevelopment, and have up to 500 employees by the time the project is built out in 2030.

“We want to create roots and a new future here,” said Troy Carpenter, president of Vetter USA.

Des Plaines aldermen this week also approved the company’s development plans, which calls for the reuse of two existing buildings and construction of six new ones over the course of 13 years.

Starting next year, the firm plans to renovate the two buildings closest to Mount Prospect Road for temporary construction offices.

Then in 2018, construction will begin on four new buildings with more than 700,000 square feet of production, warehouse, storage and multifunction space. It could take up to two years to build them, but commercial production might not start until 2022 because of government certifications that are needed.

A second construction phase with two more buildings for production and warehousing starts in 2025. By 2030, the expansion will be complete, for a total of 1.2 million square feet of space.

The tallest building on site will be 92 feet, which is the same as the tallest building currently there. Architectural designs call for a stepped approach to building heights, with a 39-foot-tall building closest to residential areas on the west side.

Plans also call for a landscaped buffer and fence.