Rosemont set to revoke Sugar Factory’s zoning amid sour ownership split

The Rosemont village board is set Monday to formally revoke zoning approvals for the already-shuttered Sugar Factory restaurant, over the objections of half the ownership group entangled in litigation with their former business partner.

The elected panel’s vote to repeal the upscale candy shop’s special use permit comes at the recommendation of the zoning board of appeals following another contentious hearing at village hall this week.

Father-and-son business partners Vincent D. Rizzo and Vincent M. Rizzo IV want to reopen the 7,000-square-foot, dessert-focused restaurant/bar/candy store at the Parkway Bank Park entertainment district. But they say they were “robbed” of their 50% partnership and negated of corporate opportunities to purchase the property at 5445 Park Place by fellow restaurateur Kevin Killerman, who shut the business down in March.

While a partner with the Rizzos in the franchise, Killerman also became the building landlord who declined to extend their lease. He purchased the two-story building that houses Sugar Factory and Adobe Gilas from the village for $4.7 million in 2021.

Killerman and the Rizzos have sued each other for misappropriation of funds and breach of fiduciary duty, amid a litany of litigation involving the now-closed Sugar Factory locations in Rosemont and Chicago’s River North.

At an Aug. 17 Rosemont zoning board hearing, Killerman testified it was a financial decision to close up shop.

At Tuesday’s zoning board meeting, the elder Rizzo disagreed that the business had run its course after 12 years in Rosemont.

“I have been in businesses in the Wrigleyville area for 80 years on the same corner. Fortunately, my father and grandfather had a vision looking forward,” said Rizzo, who runs Rizzo’s Bar & Inn, 3658 N. Clark St. “And we had a vision with the village of Rosemont and for the success of the Sugar Factory stores. That was taken away from me.”

He accused Killerman of being an “unscrupulous” business partner.

Killerman didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting. On Friday, his attorney Gene Murphy declined to comment on the litigation between the two parties.

“We don’t try our cases in the press, and I have found in my nearly 40 years of practice that people who attempt to litigate their cases in public have very weak cases,” Murphy said.

Zoning board Chair Ron Holtman said the dispute between the Rizzos and Killerman would be handled “in a different venue,” but not by his board.

“We’re not saying that the Sugar Factory can’t be here in the future. But right now the Sugar Factory doesn’t seem to be open. And what I would like to see is a workable restaurant in the village of Rosemont in the heart of our entertainment district,” Holtman told the Rizzos. “You are going to a different venue to argue out different facts.”

The younger Rizzo said the revocation would be a “nail in the coffin to a working restaurant.” He blamed the village for technical problems in obtaining documents requested through the Freedom of Information Act.

The village board will vote to repeal the special use at 9:30 a.m. Monday.