Kane hits settlement on circuit clerk's quarters

Board to consider offer over Wards building

Months of legal action, eviction threats and bickering appear to be over.

And, for all of it, Kane County is poised to get its building -- the former Montgomery Ward building on Randall Road, which houses the Kane County Circuit Clerk's Office.

Millions apart on price since 2007, Kane County and building owners New York-based Rockward Associates reached a tentative settlement this week, but attorneys in the case would not discuss the proposed sale price. County appraisals pegged the value at either $4.2 million or $5.7 million.

Rockward figured it at $13.3 million, based on its own appraisal, court records show.

Attorney Scott Day, representing the county, said, "We have received a formal proposal from Rockward" that will be considered by the County Board "over the next two weeks."

The agreement requires approval from the County Board and also the judge overseeing the county's eminent domain lawsuit against Rockward.

The sides have long struggled to pin down the property's fair-market value, argued over how much rent was due and were locked in a legal battle that had at least another year to go.

Perhaps a sign of a forthcoming thaw came last week when Kane paid Rockward just more than $80,000 in overdue rent going back to April 2008 and for the remainder of this year. The settlement arose as attorneys met in New York earlier this week for depositions in the eminent domain case, Rockward attorney Thomas Scherschel said.

"We didn't see much before this week," Scherschel said of negotiations.

County Board attorney Ken Shepro declined comment on how the board would handle things. Because lawsuit settlements are considered by the Legal Affairs Committee, the Wards proposal could go before that group at its Nov. 4 meeting.

The County Board meets Nov. 10, the earliest an OK could come from the full board. At this point, the lawsuit has no hearings scheduled before the end of the year.

What's next, should the sale go according to plan, is a looming question. County officials have long considered the Wards property a short-term investment as it seeks ways to add the circuit clerk's office to the judicial center campus at Route 38 and Peck Road. Whether that has changed much isn't clear.

County Board member Jesse Vazquez, an Aurora Democrat, says he'll vote for the sale and thinks a number of good ideas have been floated for how best to use the Circuit Clerk's current home.

"One that I thought was an excellent suggestion was to move traffic court cases to this building," he said in an e-mail. "This will help reduce the amount of traffic at the courthouse."

Board member and legal affairs committee member Cathy Hurlbut said it was too early to talk about anything because no settlement has been approved.

Aside from county services, the Wards property also involves current and future tax money.

Kane's lease put the county in a unique position, for a government body, of paying the property taxes. The taxes nearly doubled since 2001, with the county paying $204,429 this year. That stops once the county takes full ownership, but the change restarts the push to find a tax-generating business to locate there.

St. Charles officials have long sought retail at what Mayor Don DeWitte calls "clearly an attractive site." He highlights Costco and Zylstra Harley-Davidson as recent successes in the corridor, even as the economy faltered.

"From the city standpoint, it has always been our goal ... returning the property to the tax rolls," DeWitte said, adding news of a settlement reached him Wednesday. "Our direction for that property has not changed."

Although DeWitte ranks Wards among the top redevelopment priorities -- behind only the Charlestowne Mall and old St. Charles Mall near Route 38 and Randall -- he thinks it's "premature" to start much planning. DeWitte sees at least one or two years for Kane to decide what it wants to do.

"We don't have the drawing boards out yet," he said.

DeWitte said the county has an equal interest in future sales tax revenue because both governments benefit from the so-called RTA tax created to put money toward local transportation and public safety.