Officials in suburban Homewood are continuing to move through a prolonged review process of a $100 million redevelopment project to transform a struggling country club into a warehouse and distribution hub, estimated to add 1,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in new local property tax revenue to the local economy.
However, as the project faces protests from a group of local activists opposed to the redevelopment, the developer at the helm of the project has warned Homewood village officials that the project will happen, even if the village ultimately rejects it.
“We’re staying focused, and we’re going to see this through,” said Walt Brown Jr., CEO of development company Diversified Partners.
Brown pointed to a settlement agreement reached between the owners of the Calumet Country Club and the village of Homewood.
Under the terms of that deal, which ended lengthy litigation between Homewood and the country club owners, Diversified Partners would be allowed to de-annex the country club property from the village and either annex it to the adjacent city of Hazel Crest or develop the property in unincorporated Cook County.
Brown said the developers believe they would have “no trouble” securing the utilities and other services they need for the project, either under the jurisdiction of the village or the county.
For more than 18 months, the village sparred in Cook County Circuit Court with the developers and land owners over the fate of the 130-acre Calumet Country Club.
The case had landed in court in July 2019, when the owners of the club, identified as CCC Investors LLC, filed a petition seeking a court order allowing them to disconnect the country club property from Homewood.
That lawsuit had followed more than a year of talks involving the village, the land owners and Diversified Partners, which had negotiated a deal to buy the golf property.
The village didn’t dispute the club owners’ conclusion the country club business model was no longer viable on the site. However, they rejected the industrial uses that Diversified Partners sought to build on the land. Developers have maintained that they believe the distribution center and transportation and logistics development is the only kind of business that would work on the property, located on a busy stretch of Dixie Highway, just off Interstates 80/294.
During the litigation, Homewood village officials said they believed the country club owners planned to annex the property to Hazel Crest after they departed Homewood. However, recently, both the mayor of Hazel Crest and an opposing candidate for the office spoke in opposition to Diversified Partners’ plans.
However, faced with the prospect of losing in court, Homewood negotiated a settlement that village officials said would at least allow the village reap some of the economic benefits from the project. A tax valuation expert testified in court on behalf of the country club land owners that the project would add more than $2.8 million a year in new property tax revenue for local governments, with at least 70% of that going to local schools.
They further testified that the boost in tax revenue should decrease property tax bills for homeowners in the area by hundreds of dollars per year. Homeowners’ property tax bills in the area have increased by more than 60% in the last 10 years, according to data posted by the Cook County Clerk’s office.
Under the settlement, the village agreed to “expeditiously” review the site plans and construction plans for the project, and grant approvals, following review, “ in a timely manner.”
If the village fails to meet its obligations by May 12, the settlement deal allows the developer to disconnect the country club land from Homewood, and requires the village to pay the developer $250,000.
Since news of the settlement broke, the project has come under withering assault from a group of local activists. Calling themselves “South Suburbs for Greenspace Over Concrete,” they have loudly demanded the village reject the development, despite the settlement agreement.
They have persistently protested the development, claiming the project will create “environmental, noise and air quality problems.” They have accused the developers of “environmental racism.”
The activists have stretched hearings before the Homewood Planning and Zoning Commission over five days this week, with more action threatened as the process continues.
But no matter what the village decides, Brown said his group is prepared to continue the process and bring the project to fruition.
He said opponents “are not looking at the big picture,” of the economic gain the project will bring to the region.
“It’s disappointing that people are choosing to do this,” Brown said. “But we’re not slowing down, and we’re not stopping.”
Questions to the country club’s attorneys were referred to Brown.
Homewood village attorney Chris Cummings did not reply to questions from the Cook County Record, regarding how the village can legally reject the project, under the terms of the settlement agreement.
However, in mid-February, Cummings told the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle that the settlement agreement only obligated the village to pursue a review “process,” including “consideration of rezoning the property” and creation of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to assist with infrastructure expenses.
“The village does not guarantee an outcome,” Cummings said in the report published by the H-F Chronicle.