Post by JB on Apr 16, 2008 6:38:58 GMT -6
Church stands to make large profit on Metea sale
April 16, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
St. John AME Church doesn't have a home of its own, but it now has another $8 million with which to find one.
That's how much more Indian Prairie School District will pay than the church paid for its Eola Road property when it purchased it from Commonwealth Edison in October 2003.
According to Naperville Township records, St. John AME paid $6 million - or $71,784 an acre - for the land at Eola and Molitor roads, where it wanted to one day build a new church.
It is now selling that land for $225,000 an acre to Indian Prairie District 204, which intends to build the 3,000-seat Metea Valley High School at the location.
Originally, St. John AME intended to sell only 49 acres of the site to the district at a price of about $11 million, and build its new home on the other 35 acres.
But, after Midwest Generation decided not to sell an adjoining 37-acre parcel to the district, the church decided to sell all of its land for nearly $19 million so that the school could be built. That's $2.4 million more than the other property would have cost the district.
That's also $13 million more than the church paid for the property four years ago.
The Rev. Jesse Hawkins, pastor of St. John AME, could not be reached for comment on the deal Tuesday.
But District 204 board President Mark Metzger said the property is worth a little more than three times what the church paid for it a little more than four years ago in part because it is now one of the only large tracts of land available in the district.
"As a community reaches its collective build-out, the per-acre price of larger parcels grows more rapidly than does other land precisely because large parcels are needed to do large projects," Metzger said.
Even at that $19 million price, Metzger said the property, which was not appraised by the district prior to its Monday vote to purchase it, was still the cheapest available school site in the district. Metzger noted that the 80-acre Brach-Brodie property originally selected as the site of the school would now cost $518,250 an acre, and was originally projected to cost $250,000 an acre.
"So, no matter what, we're looking at paying in 2008 less per acre than even our optimistic projections of the value of the Brach-Brodie land were," Metzger said.
According to a cost analysis published Tuesday afternoon by District 204, the actual increase in cost over the $16.5 million land plan that fell through last week is $1.4 million. While the new property costs $2,375,000 more than the old combination of St. John AME and Midwest Generation property was reported to have cost, it presents a savings of nearly $1 million related to construction costs.
Web Page Inset:
What's next for Brach-Brodie?
Although District 204 has decided to abandon its effort to purchase the remaining 55 acres in the 80-acre site originally selected as the location of Metea Valley High School, the Brach-Brodie condemnation lawsuit is not entirely resolved.
The Brach trust has not filed for damages due to the suit, but the Brodie trust has. It is asking the courts to require District 204 to purchase the property at the $31 million price the jury ruled fair and it is prepared to seek more than $12 million in damages if a judge sides with the district. The trust would seek reimbursement for any reduction in value to trust-owned properties due to the district's condemnation suit.
District 204's legal counsel has described the Brodie trust's damages claim as "ridiculous," and a "waste of time," and said they "have no basis in law whatsoever."
All three sides will reconvene May 13 in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton, when a hearing date on the matter will be set.
edit - cut/paste errors of inset
April 16, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
St. John AME Church doesn't have a home of its own, but it now has another $8 million with which to find one.
That's how much more Indian Prairie School District will pay than the church paid for its Eola Road property when it purchased it from Commonwealth Edison in October 2003.
According to Naperville Township records, St. John AME paid $6 million - or $71,784 an acre - for the land at Eola and Molitor roads, where it wanted to one day build a new church.
It is now selling that land for $225,000 an acre to Indian Prairie District 204, which intends to build the 3,000-seat Metea Valley High School at the location.
Originally, St. John AME intended to sell only 49 acres of the site to the district at a price of about $11 million, and build its new home on the other 35 acres.
But, after Midwest Generation decided not to sell an adjoining 37-acre parcel to the district, the church decided to sell all of its land for nearly $19 million so that the school could be built. That's $2.4 million more than the other property would have cost the district.
That's also $13 million more than the church paid for the property four years ago.
The Rev. Jesse Hawkins, pastor of St. John AME, could not be reached for comment on the deal Tuesday.
But District 204 board President Mark Metzger said the property is worth a little more than three times what the church paid for it a little more than four years ago in part because it is now one of the only large tracts of land available in the district.
"As a community reaches its collective build-out, the per-acre price of larger parcels grows more rapidly than does other land precisely because large parcels are needed to do large projects," Metzger said.
Even at that $19 million price, Metzger said the property, which was not appraised by the district prior to its Monday vote to purchase it, was still the cheapest available school site in the district. Metzger noted that the 80-acre Brach-Brodie property originally selected as the site of the school would now cost $518,250 an acre, and was originally projected to cost $250,000 an acre.
"So, no matter what, we're looking at paying in 2008 less per acre than even our optimistic projections of the value of the Brach-Brodie land were," Metzger said.
According to a cost analysis published Tuesday afternoon by District 204, the actual increase in cost over the $16.5 million land plan that fell through last week is $1.4 million. While the new property costs $2,375,000 more than the old combination of St. John AME and Midwest Generation property was reported to have cost, it presents a savings of nearly $1 million related to construction costs.
Web Page Inset:
What's next for Brach-Brodie?
Although District 204 has decided to abandon its effort to purchase the remaining 55 acres in the 80-acre site originally selected as the location of Metea Valley High School, the Brach-Brodie condemnation lawsuit is not entirely resolved.
The Brach trust has not filed for damages due to the suit, but the Brodie trust has. It is asking the courts to require District 204 to purchase the property at the $31 million price the jury ruled fair and it is prepared to seek more than $12 million in damages if a judge sides with the district. The trust would seek reimbursement for any reduction in value to trust-owned properties due to the district's condemnation suit.
District 204's legal counsel has described the Brodie trust's damages claim as "ridiculous," and a "waste of time," and said they "have no basis in law whatsoever."
All three sides will reconvene May 13 in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton, when a hearing date on the matter will be set.
edit - cut/paste errors of inset
