Lyons Township High Seeks To Avoid Previous Pitfalls On Land Sale

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School is poised to start marketing its 70 acres in Willow Springs next week. And it is being advised to avoid previous pitfalls.

This would follow the school board's failed attempt to sell the land three years ago, angering neighbors.

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At Monday's board meeting, the school's real estate broker, Moses Hall, is set to present the plan for selling the land. The documents were released Friday morning.

Under his plan, the school would seek bids starting Sept. 22, hold a bid opening Nov. 9 and award a contract a week later.

In early 2023, the board tried to sell to an industrial developer, even though Willow Springs' rules prevent such uses in that area.

Behind closed doors, the board's then-lawyer told members that they had a "pretty good" chance of changing the zoning. This is while Willow Springs officials were publicly vowing to stick to the village's code.

In his latest plan, Hall, who owns Mohall Commercial and Urban Development, never used the word "industrial." In a preliminary plan, he did.

He wrote in the new one, "(T)he district makes no warranty as to permissible uses. The marketing materials will say so in plain terms and in a prominent position."

Stating this position early, he said, ensures purchasers are equipped to pursue the village's approval.

Hall also subtly referred to the last go-around. Back then, the board repeatedly met behind closed doors about the land sale for much of a year.

Residents complained, and the attorney general found the board violated the state's open meetings law. As a result, the board released the closed session recordings.

"The community around this property has been through two marketing cycles and has good reason to scrutinize a third," Hall said.

The response should be "disclosure discipline," he said. That includes publishing what is being offered, the terms and the process dates and making the same information available to both residents and bidders, he said.

"A community that can follow the process in real time has less reason to assume something is being concealed," Hall said.

Hall's plan also includes consultations with Willow Springs officials.

The school board appears to have been more open this time around.

In his 2023 campaign, the board's president, Tim Albores, said he would oppose a land sale to an industrial bidder.

In April, Patch asked Albores whether he stood by that statement. He did not do so.

Rather, he said the board would rely on Mohall's expertise and undergo a public bid process under state law.

In 2023, the school got a $55 million bid from an industrial developer, but the board abandoned the effort in the face of local opposition and an upcoming election. Under the current zoning, the school is expected to get far less.

The school bought the land more than six decades ago for a third campus.

But enrollment failed to increase as expected, so the expansion became unnecessary.

The proceeds from the land sale could support building improvements at the school's two campuses, officials say.