Developer outlines final failed attempt to reach Hobson West deal

Naperville Park District commissioners wanted to turn open land in the Hobson West neighborhood into a park.

So did the neighborhood's residents.

So did property owner Crestview Builders.

So why isn't the land being turned into a park?

Crestview Builders owners Ron Wehrli and Mike Steck on Wednesday released their June 10 letter to the park district detailing their offer for selling a portion of the land for $2.5 million and donating the rest after holding it in escrow for two years.

The park district rejected that offer two days later and closed negotiations. In the end, they say, it was the legal details that doomed the sale.

The 6 acres in question is in the Hobson West neighborhood between Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street.

The park district owns the 9-acre ponds on the site but a group of residents has been urging it for several years to purchase the 6 acres in between to create a 15-acre park.

As of January, the park district was offering $2.5 million for the land while Crestview wanted $4.1 million for it.

Other private negotiations followed but, on June 12, the park district announced the two sides could not reach an agreement and would cease negotiations.

The letter released by Crestview Wednesday sheds some light as to the offer that was on the table. The developers offered to sell 2.31 acres for $2.5 million, which they said is less than they had invested in the property.

According to the terms of the proposal, the remaining 3.69 acres would be held in escrow for two years and pledged as a gift to the park district.

During those two years, the district would be able to use the land but would be responsible for taxes and maintenance. No changes would be allowed on the land without park approval.

But the disagreement came over the promise of the gift two years down the road.

Craig Cobine, an attorney for Crestview, said the deal was structured that way on the recommendation of the developer's tax accountant due to IRS regulations. Cobine said they felt they had included every possible provision to ensure the park district would, in fact, get the land after the two-year period

"We attempted to cover every conceivable thing and even provided -- if Ron or Mike were to die -- their interest in this land trust would go to the park district so one way or another the park district was going to get the property," Cobine said. "We certainly didn't see any scenario under which they wouldn't be able to get it."

But the park district's attorneys didn't feel 100 percent confident the agreement would be binding.

"The bottom line is a promise to make a gift is not (legally) enforceable," said Steve Adams, general counsel for the district.

Adams did not handle the negotiations and could not comment specifically on the June 10 letter. Attorney Rachel Robert negotiated the matter for the district but could not be reached late Wednesday afternoon.

Park board President Suzanne Hart said some commissioners took a little convincing, but all seven eventually were on board with buying the land. In the end, though, they had to take the advice of their attorneys.

"We're dealing with tax dollars not with our own personal accounts to have that gamble," Hart said. "No matter how we look at it, we're a conservative government body (and) I'm sure everyone of us ran on being fiscally responsible and it wouldn't be fiscally responsible (to go through with the purchase)."

In the June 10 letter, Crestview said the district proposed alternatives to the deal but those would not allow it to be considered a donation. Without the purchase/donation structure, "this transaction is not economically feasible for us," the letter says.

Cobine said Crestview didn't release the letter in hopes of reopening negotiations but wanted to let the public know what offer the developer had made.

The land is zoned for townhouses but it is unclear when construction could begin.

"Just a few days ago we thought it would be a park again, so not yet to my knowledge has there been any decisions about when to start developing it," Cobine said.