Naperville offers incentive if Kroehler mansion can be preserved
It's not guaranteed to result in preservation of the former home of furniture magnate Peter Kroehler in Naperville, but an incentive could help the structure avoid the wrecking ball.
The city council agreed Tuesday to a resolution supporting issuing up to $562,000 to the nonprofit disability services agency Little Friends, which is trying to sell its Wright Street property - including the roughly 110-year-old Kroehler house.
The funding would come in exchange for recording a covenant on what's known as the Kroehler mansion to preserve it from demolition.
To accept the incentive, Little Friends also must require any buyer to provide an insurance policy in the event of the house's accidental destruction. City council member Patrick Kelly said he worried the house could be destroyed if a developer tries to move it to a corner of the nearly 4-acre site from its perch near the middle.
Approval of the resolution to support an incentive - it effectively says "we generally agree an incentive would be an appropriate thing to do" - is a preliminary step, Mayor Steve Chirico said.
However, the offer might not result in preservation of the mansion. The city already has granted permission for it to be torn down in a decision made last month.
The decision overturned an earlier denial by the city's historic preservation commission, which said the mansion must stay, but allowed for demolition of the other buildings on the Little Friends campus, including Krejci Academy, an administration center and a gym. A garage on the site can be razed without specific city approval.
If Little Friends is able to sell the property to a developer who promises not to tear down the mansion, the city council would work out the specifics of a deal, including from which source or fund the city money would come.
"It is wonderful to see this city develop a creative financial strategy to encourage historic preservation," said Becky Simon, president of the new nonprofit Naperville Preservation, Inc.
The idea is city money could help bridge the gap between an offer to buy the property with the mansion still standing and higher-priced offers Little Friends has received contingent on the site being empty. Little Friends officials have said the group needs to recoup the most value possible from its land in order to move to another site - such as one it has identified in Warrenville - that is better suited to modern education for students with autism and disabilities.
"We have been clear that the land sale must generate sufficient resources to fund our transformation," Little Friends spokesman Patrick Skarr said Wednesday, "and we will select the offer and path forward that is in the best interest of Little Friends and those we serve."
Five city council members and Chirico voted to approve supporting an incentive, but Theresa Sullivan and Kevin Coyne voted against it. Council member John Krummen recused himself from the discussion.
Sullivan said she does not want public money to support what she sees as a private transaction. Coyne said he wouldn't want to commit taxpayer dollars, especially without knowing what a potential developer would propose to build.
Little Friends now will solicit best and final offers from interested developers.
"Soliciting these final offers with and without the mansion is our final good-faith effort to see if there is a viable financial path to repurpose the mansion," Skarr said.