planning & development
La Grange Place, a major mixed-use redevelopment proposed for the former Rich Port YMCA site and some adjoining acreage from Gordon Park, seemed like a done deal after receiving unanimous approval April 14 from the La Grange Village Board of Trustees. All that remained was to obtain the approval of a Cook County judge allowing sale of the public parkland to the developer. But on June 27, the judge ruled that the amount of parkland involved was more than three acres and therefore beyond the court's jurisdiction. The La Grange Park District is now mulling its options.
La Grange Place hits major roadblock
This report was updated Aug. 15, 2008. For the latest coverage of this topic, read our newsblog, the daily.
It seemed like a done deal.
After months of lengthy public hearings and frequently contentious discussion, the La Grange Village Board of Trustees April 14 unanimously approved a major mixed-use redevelopment on the former site of the Rich Port YMCA and some adjoining acreage owned by the La Grange Park District.
The Rich Port YMCA closed in 2007 after serving the La Grange community for more than 50 years.
With its 26 townhomes, 283 apartments and 33,000 square feet of commercial space, La Grange Place would be the largest single private investment in the history of La Grange, according to Patrick Benjamin, the Village's director of community development.
YMCA officials were talking about closing in July on the sale of the Rich Port parcel to Atlantic Realty Partners, perhaps anticipating that by then the developer would have completed purchase from the Park District of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park, directly north of the Y parcel.
Sale of the parkland required the approval of a Cook County judge, whose ruling on the Park District's request was anticipated in May, or June at the latest.
If the La Grange Place development proceeds as approved, nearly one half-acre of parkland abutting the La Grange Towers condominiums would remain open space, says the developer. Twenty-six new townhomes would rise in the foreground.
But when the Judge Susan Fox Gillis handed down her ruling July 27, it stopped the whole deal in its tracks.
While Park District officials had from the outset maintained their intention to sell to Atlantic Realty only 2.82 acres of parkland, an attorney for a La Grange resident who opposed the sale convinced the judge that, in fact, the sale would transfer 3.5 acres of parkland to the developer.
Under Illinois law, the sale or disposal of public parkland requires the approval of a majority of voters in a public referendum.
On July 21, lawyers for the Park District filed an emergency motion asking Judge Gillis to reconsider her ruling. She denied the motion.
That leaves the Park District with three options: appeal the judge's ruling to a higher court, ask for voter support of the existing contract, or draw up a new contract wherein the amount of parkland being sold clearly is under three acres.
At a special closed session held Aug. 13, Park District commissioners were weighing those options. Hearsay sources are betting on a new contract.
Read more about the judge's ruling in our newsblog, the daily.
Also, in the column to the left, you will find links to a copy of Atlantic Realty's original proposal for the development, along with some of the comments made by Village residents at some of the public hearings.
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