The president of Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) today said that his company had offered an alternative scenario to a settlement proposal made by La Grange Friends of the Park (LGFP), a residents group that opposes plans by the park District of La Grange to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park to the developer.
Richard Aaronson would not reveal the specifics of the counterproposal but said the scenario offered by LGFP, in which ARP would purchase only the development rights to the park acreage, not the land itself, and transfer the density allowance to the adjacent former Rich Port YMCA site is "not workable."
"Densifying the project doesn't make sense," Aaronson said.
Under a plan for the project, known as La Grange Place, approved by village trustees in April 2008, ARP would construct 284 mid-rise apartment units situated mostly on the Y site and partly on the adjoining park acreage. Twenty-three two-story townhomes would be built on parkland north of the Y site. Some 30,000 square feet of commercial space would be built solely on the Y site.
Under a scenario involving purchase and transfer of development rights, the density allowance for both the Y site and parkland conceivably could be combined on the Y site, possibly resulting in an increased number of apartment units. The townhomes would not be built under that scenario.
Increasing the density on the Y site does not appeal to ARP given the downturn in the economy since the project was approved more than two years ago, Aaronson said.
"We are looking to reduce the scope and cost of the project," he said, given the currently weak real estate market.
Aaronson said that his counterproposal is contingent on a number of issues being resolved between the developer, the park district, the residents group and the village.
Tom Beyer, an attorney for LGFP and Tim Kelpsas, president of the park board, were not immediately available for comment regarding ARP's counterproposal.
LGFP formally objected in Cook County Circuit Court to a petition filed earlier this year by the park district asking judge Susan Fox Gillis to directly approve the sale of the 2.82 acres to ARP. The settlement talks were initiated by Gillis in hopes of avoiding a lengthy and costly trial.
An attorney for the park district Monday told Gillis that a settlement was not likely and asked her schedule a hearing on the merits of the petition.
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