I was on the phone to Peter Retley the minute I was back in my car. Two things stood out to me: work being done to clear the property prior to permitting and the annexing of land inside the village of Elmwood Park. Both were signs that the developers were willing to play fast and loose with the boundary of the law. But I needed someone who understood the process far better than I did.
“Peter, I think you’ve just become my go-to resource on all things real estate. I have another question. Well, maybe a bunch of questions,” I said, wondering what it was going to cost me.
“I’m here for you, Andrea. Whatever you need. Throw it at me.”
“As I’m sure you’ve figured out, there’s a story I’m working on that involves a real estate development project. The developer has been acquiring properties within a defined area, attempting to amass one large parcel for future development. One of the complications is that the majority of these properties are not that large, so they need lots of individual transactions in order to have the amount of space they seem to be going for.”
“You’re talking about this developer you asked about, APR Holdings, I imagine. To go at a big project piece by piece like that could bring up some interesting zoning challenges, depending on the ultimate goal with the property. RS and RT and RM residential zoning all allow single-family construction. You’d need RM to get a multi-unit dwelling larger than two units. Something mixed-use would need a planned development designation. The degree of complexity depends on what’s there now, what they want to do, and who is willing to go along with it. I’m going to assume that if they’re trying to acquire a significant amount of land, then the intended use is something they want to change from its current state. Is that correct?”
“I’ve seen a schematic that shows the future development as mixed-use. The plan is a lifestyle community, so retail, restaurant, housing all combined. However, in the scheme of these types of developments, it’s not big.”
“Obviously that would potentially be a zoning challenge, depending on the circumstances. And I can’t say with any certainty how complicated without knowing more. Location, the alderman, how it fits into the current landscape of the area. There is a whole host of complexities to getting approval for a project like that. It’s also very time-consuming even for small developments. Chicago’s zoning board is notoriously slow. There would also need to be public hearings allowing the community to discuss and weigh in with their views. Traffic patterns need to be studied. Environmental impact needs to be studied. If this project displaces low-income people, accommodations would need to be made. Then there is the whole issue of possibly needing to pay people to relocate. Not everyone is excited to move.”
Without knowing it, Peter had already identified one of the major obstacles, Nathan Vogel.
“From what I can tell, it’s very early in the process, as far as approval and permitting and all the logistical details of involving city government. What the developer has been able to do is to acquire a good chunk the land, or if not directly, interested parties have purchased. There is one significant holdout challenging the developer. He owns a couple of acres that are critically located.”
“In other words, he’s the developer's worst nightmare,” Peter said with a chuckle.
I imagined he had a long list of stories he could tell on that subject.
“As I said, this developer seems to be operating outside of the view of the city for now. I’ve seen the plans. But I don’t think they have even begun to approach the city. Here’s my first question. As far as I can tell, no zoning or permitting work has been done yet; the developer has been acquiring individual parcels. Small parcels where a rickety old home was demolished. Or lots that were already largely vacant. What they’ve started to do is to go and make a first pass at leveling the land, but one parcel at a time.”
“So they are trying to build the quilt by sliding one square into place, pretending that these are individual situations, not a grand master plan. Am I understanding that correctly?”
“That’s exactly what it appears they’re doing. Is there anything illegal about that?”
“Wow, that’s a new one.” He paused, contemplating the maneuver. “It’s not illegal as long as they have what they need on this individual lot, but eventually they’ll need to involve the city, and that tactic will be viewed, appropriately so, as sneaky and manipulative.”
“I don’t know for certain, but it seems to me that clearing land in this kind of patchwork method would be far more costly than demolishing everything and clearing the land in one fell swoop. So why would they be taking the slow, expensive route?”
“And you’d be right. The only thing that makes sense to me is that by taking these lots down to the dirt, they are gambling that when it comes time to involve the city, it’s an easier sell. If you have a habitable home on a property, some will argue with that. No one likes to destroy housing, particularly if the optics include displacing people or having to address income disparities. So the calculation is, this is nothing but dirt and the extra expense is worth it if it makes the approval process smoother. Communities don’t like empty lots, particularly when they’re large. And this developer APR Holdings is the group you’re talking about?”
“Yes, but I can’t find much information about them.”
“As I told you, I’ve never heard of them, but I can ask around.”
“That would be helpful. One more issue. The bulk of the planned development falls largely within the city of Chicago, but the last phase of the development includes single-family homes within the boundaries of the Village of Elmwood Park. Since there are two overlapping government entities involved, how would that work?”
This is the part that connected Farnsworth to the project. But I didn’t know what influence he could have since the bulk of the development was within Chicago city limits.
“The developer would have to parallel process both parts. Elmwood Park would deal with the question of the changed land use for the area involved. The city of Chicago would do the same on the larger parcel. What would be helpful to know is how important it is to get both parts approved. I would imagine there is no project if the larger portion can’t move forward. But is the phase within the village boundaries simply icing on the cake or crucial to its success.”
“I don’t know if the Elmwood Park phase is crucial, but I do know it has fewer obstacles to approval, if you get my drift.”
“Your drift is clear. And I’d say you have an interesting situation on your hands. Developers are not typically a warm and fuzzy bunch, so kicking a few old people out of their homes doesn’t make them shed a tear. However, not getting what they want brings out the ugly side of that beast. You’ll have to tell me the details when you can, because I’m suddenly very curious about what you’re working on.”
An hour and a half later, I stepped into Cai’s elevator with a leaky brown bag and smelling of Kung Pao chicken. Her door staff knew me on sight at this point, but I was pleased to see Cai was still asking for all visitors to be announced. No sense paying for a doorman building if you weren’t going to use them when you needed them.
Her condo was a gorgeous twentieth-floor unit facing the lake with a balcony that ran end to end. Normally, her door would have been unlocked and opened if she was expecting me. I rapped lightly on the solid wood, hearing the click of the deadbolt before the door swung open.
She gave me a small smile and stepped aside. Her face had lost its normal spark, as if all confidence had left her. She hadn’t resorted to sweats and a ratty tee, but her hair was pulled back, her only makeup mascara, and she wore the rarest of her attire, jeans. I set the bag on the marble floor of the foyer and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. We stood there feeling each other breathe and sharing love for each other that did not need words.
“I hope that’s from Lao Peng You,” she said.
“Under the circumstances, would I bring anything else? And I over-ordered so you would have leftovers. Since I know there is nothing in your fridge other than lemons, bubbly water, and wine. Or have you already loaded up via Instacart?”
“You know me, I know every takeout menu in a twenty-block radius. I won’t starve. I will get bored, but hungry, I will not. Come on in.”
I picked up the bag, holding the bottom in case whatever was leaking inside dripped onto the floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I knew Cai’s apartment as well as I knew my own, having spent countless hours here over the years. I pulled out plates while Cai opened the wine. We set up our meal on the tulip table next to the windows in her kitchen. Brown paper boxes of noodles and dumplings and rice and a full selection of entrees filled the surface. The scent of garlic and hoisin sauce filled the air, making me even more ravenous.
“I know Vermentino is not the ideal pairing with this feast,” Cai said, “but you know I don’t do beer.”
“Well, we can drink whatever the hell we want.” I looked at the label. “I remember this vineyard from another time I was here. I’ve been meaning to ask you what it was.”
We clinked our glasses and took a sip, sitting with the silence as we both loaded an array of goodies onto our plates.
“How did you do today? Were you able to coordinate a story with Richard?”
“Yes, I finally got to talk to him around two o’clock. We decided on some story that I need focused attention on a case, so I decided to work from home. Partially true, I guess. I’ve been in touch with clients that can be put off for a while, saying don’t worry, I just need a little reprioritizing. They haven’t been forgotten. Anything urgent I’m working with my paralegals, letting them be more involved so we can tag team. And I am not taking any new clients at the moment. Again, I’ll make do, but I sure hope this doesn’t extend for too long. The longer it goes on, the harder it is going to be to rearrange schedules. I have two trials later this month that I really don’t have an option to delay. So, get on that for me, will ya?”
“I’m working on it, I promise. Can we talk about Mr. Vogel’s case?”
She nodded, and I took a pad of paper and pencil out of my bag.
“When did you start working with him?”
“Let’s see, it’s September now. I think he first approached me in March. The developer’s attorney had been hitting him up about selling for about a year at that point. Sending over lovely letters indicating how happy they would be to give him a whole bunch of money if he would only sell his property. Vogel had largely been ignoring the outreach but still had all the letters, and each time he was contacted, the dollar amount they were offering increased. The first letter was simply, hey, I’d like to buy your property. You know the kind, where it’s a basic sales blast titled Dear Sir and given to anybody on the mailing list the company has purchased. No different from how Realtors cruise for business by sending out Dear Resident postcards, hoping the very meager odds will land them a couple of hot leads. You and I would never respond to a solicitation like that, but it’s cheap and therefore the entry-level marketing step for businesses who are lazy.”
“When did the letters to Vogel start including a purchase price?”
“If my memory is correct, it was correspondence number three. They continued to reach out to him, upping the offer by about fifty grand each time. When that had no effect, Mr. Vogel started receiving voicemails. He didn’t respond to those either. Not long before contacting me, the tone of the communication changed. Clearly this developer was getting frustrated and started trying to intimidate him. Well, Vogel isn’t exactly a guy who puts up with bullshit, so one day he answered one of those phone calls and basically told the attorney to go fuck himself. That’s when the threats of removing his road access went from vague threats to legal action, so Vogel had no choice but to engage, but clearly for very different reasons.”
“It seems like a really weak legal argument. No judge is going to agree to take away man’s right-of-way to his property.”
“I agree. But I don’t think that’s the point. The property lines were drawn decades ago, and technically it’s messy, but I think at this point they’re just trying to wear the man down or bankrupt him. And this attorney on the APR side couldn’t punch his weight out of a paper bag. Like I said, they don’t have a shot of winning the case. Their only shot is Vogel giving up. And this judge situation isn’t helping anything.”
“I imagine it will take a little time for the case to be reassigned now that Atkinson is dead. Vogel can’t be happy about that.”
“Well, I’m sure opposing counsel is happy. They’ve been trying to get this case reassigned to another judge for the last three months.”