Bank aiming for completion of part of Neumann Homes project in Antioch
Cole Taylor Bank's leader says he plans to find a developer as quickly as possible if his company winds up with a chunk of the Clublands subdivision in Antioch that bankrupt Neumann Homes never finished.
"We're not in the business to hold land, but to lend money," said Cole Taylor's President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Hoppe.
Cole Taylor might wind up with an unspecified amount of property at Clublands under a deal Neumann proposed in a federal bankruptcy court filing Nov. 22. Rosemont-based Cole Taylor loaned $14.4 million to Neumann for use at Clublands.
If approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Eugene Wedoff, Cole Taylor would receive part of Clublands in exchange for reducing Neumann's $14.4 million debt by $9 million.
Neumann Homes had finished half of the 1,400 homes it was supposed to build at the Clublands and NeuHaven subdivisions near Route 173 and Savage Road in Antioch when its bankruptcy was filed Nov. 1, 2007.
Hoppe said Cole Taylor would work with Antioch officials to get a developer if it takes control of the unfinished Clublands parcels. He said Tuesday the preferred company would be "capable, motivated and inspired" to finish Clublands.
Antioch Village Administrator Jill Velan said final street paving and electrical work for streetlights have just been finished at Clublands. The bankruptcy judge allowed Antioch to use Clublands homeowners' special-service area fees for the job.
It hasn't been as easy to complete public infrastructure at the NeuHaven subdivision north of Clublands and Savage Road.
Lawrence Moelmann, an attorney representing Antioch in the Neumann proceedings, said the village has gained the necessary bankruptcy court rulings to access $1.7 million from bonds issued by Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Maryland. The money would be for work such as final street paving and curb and gutter repairs at NeuHaven.
"Antioch plans to use those funds to construct further public improvements in the spring," Moelmann said.
In a separate development in Grayslake, Neumann's Lake Street Square project has been placed in receivership. Grayslake Zoning Officer Kirk Smith said that status means Neumann no longer controls or owns the development near the village's Lake Street Metra station.
Smith said the court-appointed receiver will get direction from a local development company hired to provide options for Lake Street Square. Neumann built about 50 of a planned 263 townhouses and rowhouses for what's supposed to be a transit-oriented subdivision.