One parcel, two trials?

[blankcheck]

Both parties may have agreed on the price, yet they were represented by their own attorneys at the closing.

[wvhsparent]

archwinsome said:

Funny that their lawyer a couple of years ago found it 'boastable' to put into their annual report the fact that they negotiated $257,000 per acre and made it sound like it was awesome because it was more than double what the school board originally offered. (page 23 of 32).

tinyurl.com/2yel79

"Commercial Litigation

On behalf of our client, the Helen Brach Estate, we settled a
condemnation action with the Indian Prairie School District on terms
that the School District will pay to the Brach-Brodie ownership total
compensation of $20.6 million for 80 acres of land bordering Aurora
and Naperville in unincorporated DuPage County, Ill. Before filing the
condemnation, the School District offered the ownership $105,000 an
acre. After almost two years of litigation, the School District
increased its offer to $170,000 an acre. This settlement represents a
payment of $257,500 an acre, half of which will be received by our client.
"

Are they lying in their annual report? They were able to settle as 'one party' then according to this group's annual report... I'm astonished there was no mention of any other party.

2 key concerns within this statement, which have plagued me since day 1, as I have read this before.
2 years of litigation, and getting 2.4 times the initial asking price. (paraphrased)
These 2 sides of the trust have not played well together for quite a while, and the SB knew this from previous dealings (above), yet they still chose this course, which is another reason why I have stated from the beginning that BB was a bad choice.
Oh well....some people never learn.......

just for fun.....257 x 2.4 = 616....Hmmmmm

[doctorwho]

bob said:

It's time to hit BB where it hurts in the wallet. The land they sold to PREIT has not been closed. Maybe if people called PREIT and told them they are planning to boycott their new mall unless BB stops these delays.

Hopefully PREIT doesn't want to piss off the community and put some leverage on them.


Or maybe we can get the Aurora city government into changing the zoning of the Preit/BB land into something not commercial.

Maybe an organized protest on the site ? Ensure news coverage and focus on Brach - and make the connection of these attorneys to their consumer products.? This is all about money anway, the gloves should be off now. Where's Geraldo when one could use him ?

Moving case to Cook County issue just further shows to level these attorneys will stoop to at this point, to further delay this case is possible. And of course they both came up with a number at $550-650 -- they are sellers, not buyers. I would love to get double the value for my home also...

[chicoryowl]

bob said:

If anyone goes past the PREIT/BB sign, can you see if there is a phone number on it.

PREIT still has to get permits and such. If people let them know now that they will fight them tooth and nail, maybe they again will put pressure on BB.

Here is their website address. I would think that whatever is done should be organized in some manner. Perhaps fighting them on permits and such could be done by a smaller group but I think calling them (similar to how we've called Senator Holmes or other representatives) to voice our opposition to their project would need to be done by a larger group.

www.preit.com/

[lacy]

While it is dissapointing to have yet more delays, in reading the article I was struck by two things that I do think their side is right about.

The land owners do have the right to get the highest value they can for their land. Some of the proponents of this site may not like that, but it's true.

And the potential jury pool is most definitely tainted against them at this point. It's not shocking to me that they would want to move the trail to another location.

I think the SB needs to cut and run. If they are serious about building a third high school and delivering it by 2009, they need to move on to another site.

[driven]

lacy said:

While it is dissapointing to have yet more delays, in reading the article I was struck by two things that I do think their side is right about.

The land owners do have the right to get the highest value they can for their land. Some of the proponents of this site may not like that, but it's true.

And the potential jury pool is most definitely tainted against them at this point. It's not shocking to me that they would want to move the trail to another location.

I think the SB needs to cut and run. If they are serious about building a third high school and delivering it by 2009, they need to move on to another site.

I completely agree! What is the obsession with this property? It's basically a "get this property at ALL costs" mentality. It doesn't matter what the financial burden is. What are our legal fees to date? How about purchasing land someone actually WANTS to sell?

[al]

wvhsparent said:

No more Brach candy in this house.....EVER!!!! even if it is free!!!!

;D - a quick FYI - they haven't owned the candy business for quite a number of years.

[casey]

AMEN! The attorneys for BB trust made it clear from the get-go they did NOT want to sell to the District. It was pretty clear that they would drag this out forever thereby incurring astronomical legal costs as well as losing precious time. This shouldn't be coming as a surprise to anyone. I can't understand how the SB (or anyone else for that matter) thinks that all this will be resolved to open a new school in 2009. The SB and community need to move on and find an alternative to BB.

[bob]

casey said:

AMEN! The attorneys for BB trust made it clear from the get-go they did NOT want to sell to the District. It was pretty clear that they would drag this out forever thereby incurring astronomical legal costs as well as losing precious time. This shouldn't be coming as a surprise to anyone. I can't understand how the SB (or anyone else for that matter) thinks that all this will be resolved to open a new school in 2009. The SB and community need to move on and find an alternative to BB.

That is not exactly true since the SD did have agreement to buy the 55 acres.

BB is about to sell the other piece to PREIT. So they are sitting on 55 acres that isn't worth as much now as it was in 2005. They don't do this deal, they are looking at a pretty big loss on the land.

Tell me who wants to build townhomes in this market.

If we build on another site, I still want the SD to screw with BB and make anyone who lives there travel the farthest to their grade, middle school and high school.

[al]

I mentioned this when it all started but thought it might be important to bring up again.

The BB Trust attorneys hold salaried positions as managers of the trust... this is their job. If and when the BB assets are all sold, their role is done. These old (80s+) guys want to keep their jobs, and in fact a few intend to pass this gravy train position down to their children. They do not want to sell this property for anything resembling a reasonable price, and will do whatever it takes to keep it in litigation for as long as possible. This has been the case since before the SB first inquired about the property, and nothing has changed. They (the trustees) love how this is being drawn out indefinitely, the more attorney's fees they can bill the better. Wishful thinking on the part of the SB will not change it. Speak with anyone who had a part in the Costco negotiations and they will tell you how incredibly difficult it was to secure their parcel.

Time, actually past time, to find another site.

[Arch]

Is this the same group of bozos who tried to sue Aero Estates back in the 90's to keep them from flying over their property for take offs and landings? Again, probably just to have something to bill the trust for (or rob the till if you like old-school speak).

[blankcheck]

Protest Preit for what? BB has already gotten their money from their settlement with Preit.

[blankcheck]

Again, many people have asked the question - What is this costing us in attorney fees?

[bob]

blankcheck said:

Protest Preit for what? BB has already gotten their money from their settlement with Preit.

Are you sure about that?

[bob]

blankcheck said:

Again, many people have asked the question - What is this costing us in attorney fees?

Why don't you ask the SD? No one here seems to know.