Clarendon Hills Eatery Falling Through?

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills is poised to pull a subsidy for a planned downtown restaurant. The owner said the city's plan surprised him.

In a memo Friday, Paul Dalen, the village's acting manager, recommended withdrawing a $265,000 subsidy for Prospect Tavern, 27 S. Prospect Ave.

The Village Board plans to vote on it Monday.

In late January, the business signed an agreement for a subsidy from the village's downtown tax increment financing district, or TIF, according to the memo.

Since then, the restaurant has failed to get any permits or submit any construction documents, Dalen said.

Because Prospect Tavern has not acted "in a timely manner," it is considered in default of the agreement, he said.

On March 17, the village provided the restaurant with a notice of default and an opportunity to correct it, Dalen said. As of last week, though, the business has not fixed the problem, he said.

In an email to Patch on Sunday, Prospect Tavern's owner, Chase Lofti, said his business was "caught off guard" by the memo Friday morning.

"I called a few village officials Friday to try and find out what was going on, but no one answered my calls," Lofti said.

Since signing the agreement, Lofti said he and his architect have worked hard on getting the design completed and would apply for a demolition permit Monday.

"He said he would then apply for full construction permits the following week.

"We will be looking into this further," Lofti said.

Money from the tax district is designed to spur development. The idea is that the restaurant would bring the village far more tax income than the subsidy.

Of the subsidy, $50,000 was contingent on Prospect Tavern's opening within six months.

The overall renovation is expected to cost nearly $600,000.

The building in question was most recently occupied by La Pearl and I Want Candy, but it has been mostly vacant since Sue's Cakery closed in 2019.

In September, a split Village Board rejected the $265,000 subsidy. At the time, the majority's objection was a condition giving the restaurant three parking spaces for outdoor dining.

That condition was dropped in the latest agreement, which the board approved in December. According to a village memo at the time, outdoor dining would be addressed annually, as with other restaurants.