1350 Lake Shore Associates v. Randall

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Illinois

Court: 1st District Appellate

Docket No: 1-09-1126 Rel

Case Date: 04/20/2010

Preview:SECOND DIVISION FILED: April 20, 2010

No. 1-09-1126

1350 LAKE SHORE ASSOCIATES, an Illinois limited partnership, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ARNOLD L. RANDALL, Commissioner, Department of Planning and Development of the City of Chicago, and the CITY OF CHICAGO, an Illinois municipal corporation, Defendants-Appellees, and EDWARD T. JOYCE, CARL HUNTER, JOHN STASSEN, JOHN C. MULLEN, CLARK W. FETRIDGE, RESPICIO F. VASQUEZ and BERNARD J. MILLER, Intervenors-Appellees.

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APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY.

No. 07 CH 16368

THE HONORABLE STUART PALMER, JUDGE PRESIDING.

JUSTICE HOFFMAN delivered the opinion of the court: Following a remand from the Illinois Supreme Court, the Circuit Court of Cook County entered an order finding that the plaintiff, 1350 Lake Shore Associates (LSA), failed to prove a clear right to a writ not the of mandamus, as its pre-development to acquire a

expenditures vested right

were in

sufficiently

substantial of a

continuation

former

zoning

No. 1-09-1126 classification. legal challenges LSA now appeals, raising a number of factual and to the circuit court's decision. For the

reasons which follow, we affirm. The procedural history of this matter is long and complex, comprising over 11 years of litigation and numerous appeals. For

the sake of brevity, we have attempted to limit our recitation of the facts to those necessary to resolve the issues presented in the instant appeal. In 1952, LSA's predecessor in interest purchased the

property located at 1320-30 Lake Shore Drive (the property) for $195,118.08. Twenty-six years later, on November 14, 1978, the

Chicago City Council approved LSA's application to change the property's zoning to from an "R8 General Residence District" 196" (RPD

classification 196).

"Residential

Planned

Development

The RPD 196 classification permitted the construction of a

40-story, 196-unit apartment building on the property. After having secured the passage of RPD 196, LSA chose not to develop the property at that time. LSA's agent, Draper the and Kramer, of It was not until 1996 that Inc. (Draper), the began in

investigating

possibility

developing

property

conformity with RPD 196.

To that end, Draper hired Jack Guthman, Draper urban

an attorney specializing in zoning law, in early 1997. also subsequently hired an architect, a surveyor, an

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No. 1-09-1126 planner, an elevator consultant, and an artist to create a

rendering from the architect's conceptual drawings. In April or May of 1997, Guthman and representatives of Draper met with Charles Bernardini, then alderman of the ward in which the property is located. At that meeting, Bernardini was Though

shown the preliminary designs for a high-rise building.

Bernardini acknowledged that he did not mention changing the property's zoning classification at this time, he did inform Guthman and the Draper representatives that, due its size and density, that, if the proposed wanted development his would be controversial should meet and with

they

support,

they

neighborhood representatives and reach an agreement. Shortly after the first meeting, Bernardini told Guthman that he had received complaints from neighbors regarding the project and that he was considering down-zoning the property if LSA and the neighbors could not reach a compromise. No agreement

was reached, and, on December 10, 1997, Bernardini introduced an ordinance before the Chicago City Council to down zone the

property to an "R6 General Residence District." The next day, the project's architect submitted plans for a high-rise building to the City of the Chicago's issuance located Department of in a a Part of II

Planning and Approval

Development, For

seeking a

letter.

property

planned

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No. 1-09-1126 development, a Part II Approval letter is a prerequisite to the issuance of a zoning certificate, which, in turn, is a

prerequisite to the issuance of a building permit.

See Chicago

Zoning Ordinance

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