River Forest’s village government has nudged and cajoled and pushed a series of developers forward at the cursed corner of Lake and Lathrop. That carrot-and-a-little stick approach manifested itself in endless extensions granted on the mixed-use luxury condo and retail project at what is inarguably the village’s most worthy site for development.
But watching Sedgwick Properties hauled into court this year by its lender, a division of Wintrust, in an effort to recoup several million already advanced to the project was too much for village officials. At the start of this month it finally laid down the law with Marty Paris, head of Sedgwick, and spelled out a daunting series of expectations which had to be met by last Friday to prevent construction permits from being revoked.
It is unclear if Sedgewick paid its back taxes. But when, last week, a Cook County judge placed the property in receivership, it was clear Paris had made no deal with Wintrust and had no alternative financing in place. The village pulled the plug on its development deal with Sedgwick.
In a Monday interview with Crain’s, Paris said he still had confidence he could complete the project. Self-confidence is a positive trait. When it tilts toward delusion, not so much.
Village government has spent years nursing this project just to avoid the current situation. It has no viable developer. There is a development site with just the start of vertical construction lingering there. The economy for financing new construction is the worst it has been since 2009.
Though terminating Sedgwick’s role is the necessary decision, what comes next is highly uncertain. The village, we presume, still wants a mid-sized luxury housing project with street level retail. Beyond that we are back to square one.
