Gasthaus owner said he wants to rent or sell building
The owner of the closed Gasthaus Zur Linde bar in downtown Elgin said he's going to put up the place for rent and is "definitely considering" filing an appeal after a judge dismissed a lawsuit he filed against the city.
Marco Muscarello said he hired the law firm Di Monte & Lizak of Park Ridge after a Kane County judge dismissed with prejudice Muscarello's lawsuit, which opposes a plan to turn the adjacent Tower Building into apartments. "With prejudice" means the lawsuit cannot be refiled.
Muscarello has 30 days to appeal the Oct. 7 decision.
Councilman Terry Gavin said the city received a letter from Di Monte & Lizak last week. He and other council members declined to comment on its contents. "We've been told not to discuss this with anybody except corporation counsel (Bill Cogley)," Gavin said.
Mayor David Kaptain said it appears Di Monte & Lizak's attorneys are gathering information. "Any time a lawsuit gets filed, it's worrisome," Kaptain said.
Cogley and Di Monte & Lizak did not return requests for comment Monday.
Councilman Toby Shaw said he expects Muscarello to file an appeal.
"I don't have any concerns the city is going to lose this court battle," he said. "It's going to be more of a nuisance."
Developer Richard Souyoul said he's moving forward with plans to buy and redevelop the Tower Building into 55 rental units. The building belongs to the Stickling Foundation. "(The sale) will happen shortly," he said.
The Gasthaus closed after the city changed the bar's liquor license from 3 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends and required it to have at least 50 percent of revenues from food. The city took action after multiple fights and disturbances took place in or outside 15 N. Grove Ave.
Muscarello said he's going to seek renters for the Gasthaus, which closed Sept. 26, and he's also willing to sell the building "for the right price."
"I'm going to be putting up For Rent signs. I will consider all opportunities. I can't leave it vacant," he said.
About six weeks ago, Souyoul said, one of Muscarello's attorneys contacted Souyoul asking if the developer would buy the Gasthaus building for $800,000, which Souyoul said was too much. "We don't need the building, but if it was reasonable (in price), we would consider it."
Any new business owner would have to apply for a new liquor license and go through the process like anyone else, Gavin said. "It would have to be judged purely on the merits of the current application," he said.
However, the liquor control commission - which comprises the entire city council - would want to know whether Muscarello would still be involved in the building's operations, Gavin said.
The city of Elgin has a pending lawsuit against the Stickling Foundation filed in 2013 for failure to comply with life safety issues, including elevators and fire sprinklers, in the Tower Building. The next court date is Jan. 27. The building was condemned in May 2014 and has been empty since.
"The Stickling Foundation owns it, and they still need to bring it up to code, especially if they try to occupy it again," Fire Chief John Fahy said. Any redevelopment plan for the Tower Building will have to address those issues, he added.
Cogley didn't respond to the question about why the lawsuit was being continued.