Justices boost stalled tower plan
Gold Coast high-rise stuck in legal battle
By Ameet Sachdev
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 22, 2006
The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday resurrected a challenge to a 1998 city zoning ordinance prohibiting construction of a Lake Shore Drive high-rise--the latest move in a battle between developer Draper & Kramer Inc. and a group of influential Gold Coast neighbors.
Justices sent the case back to trial court for a determination on whether Draper & Kramer retains the right to build its proposed luxury condominium tower at Lake Shore Drive and Banks Street.
The city changed the zoning of the parcel, which is now a parking lot, after residents in the tony neighborhood complained that the 40-story project would have diminished their views of Lake Michigan and further clogged an already congested community.
The zoning change, known in real-estate lingo as down-zoning, limited construction on the property to about eight stories.
Draper & Kramer has vigorously fought the city for the last eight years. The dispute has resulted in three Appellate Court rulings. Company officials could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
The Chicago real-estate firm contends it had a "vested right" to build under the previous zoning classification of the property, enacted in 1978, because it had presented its plans to then Ald. Charles Bernardini several months before he introduced a proposed zoning change.
The Illinois Supreme Court did not find that Draper & Kramer had a vested interest in the prior zoning, but it asked the trial court to conduct more fact finding. Specifically, it asked the court to determine how much the developer had spent working on the project as of Dec. 10, 1997, the day Bernardini introduced the zoning change. If the expenses are substantial enough, Draper & Kramer could construct its tower.
The high court found that the trial and appeals courts had erred in "identifying the date on which the developer knew or should have known that it would probably not receive the necessary approvals to complete its project." The lower courts had ruled that the developer first knew about objections to its project in April or May of 1997. Court documents show that the developer incurred expenses between $180,000 and $269,000, not including employee salaries, prior to the introduction of the ordinance down-zoning the property.
Attorney Reuben Hedlund, who represents neighborhood opponents of the project, said the amount of the expenses is not sufficient to win the lawsuit.
"We hope that the dim prospects of ultimately prevailing in the 8-year-old litigation will persuade Draper to develop the site in accordance with the existing zoning," Hedlund said.
Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department, said, "We're disappointed with the decision, but at the same time it's important to note that the court did not find that the developer had a vested interest in the prior zoning."
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Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local...079494.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed
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I've added it to Emporis as building #289543.
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