Islamic school says it has no interest in Hubble
The real estate agent who claimed to represent a Lombard-based Islamic school at an auction for the old Hubble Middle School site in Wheaton had no authority to do so, officials at the Islamic school said Tuesday.
Mohammed Saeed, the president of the board of directors at the College Preparatory School of America, said he was shocked when he learned Muhammad Shamsi showed up to make a bid on the property. In fact, he said, the board of directors had not even discussed Hubble and the Naperville-based Realtor has no affiliation with College Preparatory.
“We have not authorized him to do that,” Saeed said. “Why he did what he did, I don’t know. We were very surprised.”
On May 16, Shamsi arrived at a live auction for the site but was immediately disqualified when he said he did not have the $300,000 earnest check Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials required to participate in the auction.
At the time, Shamsi said he represented the school and the man responsible for the check had been called away to a family emergency.
Saeed said Shamsi tried to explain his actions by telling school officials he merely attended the auction as a concerned community member. However, Shamsi identified himself as working for RE/MAX and as “Rep. CSPA” on a sheet at the auction intended for those interested in bidding on the 22-acre site.
He did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
“Before (the College Preparatory board) would make any move, they would discuss it thoroughly at a board meeting,” Saeed said. “Why he went there and why he put our name in, we do not know. We have not talked about this at all.”
The Islamic school already is undergoing a renovation and expansion at its Lombard campus and Shamsi said at the auction that it had outgrown its present site. But Saeed said that expansion will be contained to its current campus.
Any interaction between the Realtor and the school has been informal and unofficial in nature, Saeed said.
On May 26, College Preparatory officials informed District 200 that Shamsi did not represent the school.
“Please note that Mr. Shamsi is not authorized to submit any bids on behalf of CPSA,” wrote Andrew J. Draus, a lawyer representing the school in a faxed statement.
District 200 officials did not comment specifically on the news other than to say they had received the statement.
The school district continues to consider a park district offer for the site that would bring a Mariano’s Fresh Market grocery store to the site. Park officials want to retain what they say is more than 90,000 user hours at the campus.
The auction Shamsi attended garnered no official bids and came on the heels of a sealed-bid auction that placed a $10 million minimum bid. That auction also received zero bids.