The saga of Lake and Lathrop in River Forest continues. The venue these days is the court room. At this moment the tilt toward resolution of this absurd situation leans toward village government.
On Feb. 14, a Cook County judge ruled in favor of the village and dismissed a suit filed by Lake Lathrop Partners demanding the village hand over new building permits to the failed developer.
This comes even as Wintrust Bank, the prime lender on the project, has foreclosed on the property and works to gain possession so it can auction it off to a new developer.
It is beyond us why Lake Lathrop Partners believes it has any call on village government to roll the dice once more on a development that is thoroughly stuck, on a property the village has been trying to develop forevermore.
We hope, and the village hopes more, that this court action will clear the way for a new development on what is the most desirable site in the village. There are still hurdles. Some entity will need to demolish the puny portion of construction already completed on the site.
Given what is now potentially another economic slowdown, given the likely tariffs and continued high interest rates, we will see how ready legitimate developers are to jump into this project. There will need to be negotiations and processes if the village is to get what it has long wanted: A luxury condo building with high end retail at the ground level.
So we shall see. But moving toward exiting Lake Lathrop Partners from the endless discussion is a good step.