A suburb north of Chicago is close to reaching a $400,000 settlement with an Australia-based developer that sued it over a land deal that blew up.
The village of Rosemont is expected to approve the settlement with Mariner Higgins Centre LLC next week, Journal & Topics reported. The proposed settlement would allow the village to maintain ownership of vacant land on the north side of Higgins Road.
The parcel at the center of the lawsuit is near a six-story office building that Mariner owns, at 1700 West Higgins Road, straddling the line between Rosemont and Des Plaines. In 2016, the developer approached Rosemont officials about acquiring the land between its office building and the Soo Line Railroad tracks, where it planned to build a restaurant.
But then Rosemont officials found out that Mariner had approached Des Plaines with plans to develop a hotel and parking garage east of its office building, a project the village deemed an “excessive use.”
In light of the proposed hotel, Rosemont’s village board unanimously denied Mariner’s request to buy the vacant parcel. Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens, who is also a representative in the Illinois General Assembly, cited concerns of increased traffic along Higgins Road, anticipating that the Illinois Department of Transportation would get involved.
The decision prompted Mariner to sue the village, claiming it had a binding agreement with Rosemont to purchase the land, the outlet reported.
“We just wanted to get it over with,” Stephens said of the lawsuit, calling it “frivolous.”
Mariner still hasn’t approved the settlement.
The Village of Rosemont is keen on real estate. The municipality purchased 19 acres from land-use and development consultant James DeRose for $12.8 million in August. The village’s plans for the site, which houses a former Ramada hotel and a par 3 golf course, haven’t been revealed.
— Quinn Donoghue
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