Judge throws out Elgin Tower lawsuit, for now
A Kane County judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owner of the Gasthaus bar to stop a plan to redevelop the vacant and iconic Elgin Tower building with apartments.
Judge Thomas Mueller Wednesday gave attorneys for Gasthaus Zur Linde 28 days to refile their lawsuit, but ruled the current one was "completely lacking in any factual allegations."
Attorney Charles Muscarello filed the lawsuit on behalf of his father, Marco, who owns the Gasthaus, 15 N. Grove Ave.
The lawsuit argued that plans to rezone the 15-story Tower Building at 100 E. Chicago St. from office to residential and redevelop it with 45 apartments were "arbitrary," "capricious" and "unreasonable."
The lawsuit argued the city violated its own rules and the project should not be eligible for $4.7 million in funding from a special taxing district.
Victor Filippini, an attorney representing Elgin, argued that the "adaptive reuse" of historic buildings is a city goal and that the city followed all of its own rules and procedures.
"This is a building that's in great distress," Filippini said. "The entire argument (in the lawsuit) is based on a misconception of what the law is. The 80 pages of the complaint talked a lot but said little. The compliant needs to be dismissed."
Mueller ruled the city did not overstep its authority when an advisory board approved the plan in January.
"It's clearly an issue for a blighted downtown," Mueller said.
The two sides are next due in court Aug. 12.