A Cook County Circuit Court judge stopped efforts to secure a new developer for the Lake and Lathrop project.
Ascend Real Estate Group, the court-appointed receiver, had been negotiating with Chicago-based Michigan Avenue Real Estate on a contract to buy the site of a one-time condominium project at Lake Street and Lathrop Avenue.
But Circuit Court Judge Catherine A. Schneider issued an order March 18 revoking Ascend’s authority to market or sell the property and supported a motion to reconsider presented in January by Lake Lathrop Partners LLC and Sedgwick Properties, an authorized agent acting on behalf of Lake Lathrop Partners LLC.
As a result, the Ascend has ceased efforts to negotiate the sale of the property.
In the motion to reconsider, Lake Lathrop Partners disputed that the appointed receiver should be allowed to advertise and market the subject property at 7601-7613 Lake Street for sale. Lake Lathrop Partners argued that such power is not granted to a receiver under the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Act.
A foreclosure case filed by Beverly Bank and Trust, a Wintrust-affiliated bank, is still pending before the court and is currently in the discovery phase. The Wintrust foreclosure case will take precedence and once the foreclosure case is resolved, Wintrust may be able to sell the property to another developer, according to village officials.
Ascend continues to be responsible for the maintenance and security of the site and Wintrust is responsible for all associated costs, including legal fees and property taxes, officials said.
Michigan Avenue RE had reportedly submitted a bid of $3.75 million for the site at Lake and Lathrop and was negotiating on a contract with Ascend, according to the second receiver’s report issued earlier this month by Ascend.
The village of River Forest pulled the plug on the Lake and Lathrop development on a critical Sept. 15 deadline, apparently ending years of frustration for village officials and village residents, especially those who live near the development — but resulting in an unknown future for the site.
Sedgwick Properties failed to meet the conditions set forth by the village, according to officials. Construction activity was not to be permitted on the site, they added.
“As of September 15, 2023, at 4:30 p.m., the Village has repealed the building permit for the Lake and Lathrop development at Lake Street and Lathrop Avenue and issued a stop work order to Sedgwick Properties, the developer,” village officials said in a news release issued at that time.
According to the second receiver’s report, Ascend engaged Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago real estate company, in the fall to conduct an “aggressive marketing campaign” of the Lake and Lathrop property. Beginning in November, the property was “exposed extensively” to the market for approximately 75 days via email blasts, on site tours and follow-up phone calls, according to the report.
Through that campaign, 66 firms were contacted, 47 of which requested additional information. Five written offers were submitted in response to a “call for offers” in January. Follow-up discussions were held with the five bidders and a second round of bidding was announced wherein all five bidders were instructed to present their highest and best offer. Three enhanced offers were received in February, the highest of which was from Michigan Avenue RE.
River Forest officials stressed previously that any proposed development for the site will be subject to village zoning and permitting approval. They also noted that the village is not paying any legal expenses for these court proceedings or for any property maintenance expenses.
The project had been on the drawing board since before the village board’s 2016 approval of the proposal by Lake Lathrop Partners LLC to build a four-story, mixed-use development containing 22 condominium units with 14,000 square feet of retail space. Variations on the same project had lurched and lingered for a decade previously. The original project included another story and eight more units but was scaled back.
The project experienced a series of delays over the years, including environmental cleanup from a dry cleaner originally on the site and a lawsuit involving a tenant who did not want to leave.
