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La Salle council approves settlement in Kaskaskia lawsuit · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  La Salle Council approved settlement in Kaskaskia lawsuit. Written by Emily Beebe
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  This article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you
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  by Everlet. The LaSalle City Council on Monday approved a settlement agreement
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  with Kaskaskia Development LLC, dismissing the company from the city's lawsuit over
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  the former hotel Kaskaskia and substituting a new owner Troy Heather LLC,
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  as defendant. The settlement, in case no, 2025-MR0000055,
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  dismisses Kaskaskia with prejudice permanently and releases the
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  city’s claims. Kaskaskia entered into a purchase agreement with Troy Heather LLC
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  for the sale of the property. Upon its completion, the city substitutes
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  the new owner as defendant. Before the vote, both LaSalle Mayor Jeff
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  Grove and Alderman
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  Bob Thompson and Tom Batack weighed in. Mayor Grove told the council
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  the agreement does not reset the city's legal fight. The clock does
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  not start fresh, Groves said. We continue them litigation, basically, from where
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  we left off. As far as them litigation all the time, effort,
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  and money we put into it, that does not stop. Alderman Thomson,
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  who voted against, said the city's legal costs. Had been staggering and
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  that the settlement releases CL without requiring full payment. Well over hundreds
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  of thousands of dollars uh in legal fees trying to get them
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  to do something with that building, and now we're gonna release them
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  from it, Thompson said. Thompson also said he spoke with the city
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  attorney before the meeting and was told the only fees being paid
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  are those to disengage from the lawsuit, not all legal costs. Thompson
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  also raised a concern about the entity taking the property, which he
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  said was incorporated June thirtieth with the state of Illinois, warning it
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  could file for bankruptcy. As somebody told me once before, well all
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  I gotta do is just file bankruptcy, Thompson said. Alderman Patak addressed
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  The
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  Karas family directly. My request to your family is straightforward. Please step
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  forward and pay for the safe demolition and clean up of this
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  property, Patak said. Whatever legal obligations may be, I believe there is
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  responsibility in the community that deserves this consideration. Patak also suggested a
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  public park on the site, potentially honoring their father with community input
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  and council approval. We cannot recover the years that have passed, he
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  said, but we still can work towards a better outcome. The Hotel
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  Kaskaskia, a six-story National Register landmark that takes up most of the
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  city block, has been at the center of a years-long dispute between
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  the city and its owners. In June 2022, LaSalle obtained a search
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  warrant for the hotel after citing busted windows animals inside and cracks
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  in the facade concerns the city said the owner CL Real Estate
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  Development had not addressed. CL President Nathan Watson told Shaw Local the
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  company had been working with The city to address safety issues and
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  would share the results of a structural survey when completed, according to
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  a 2025 Shaw Local article In January 2025, the city completed inspections
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  at the Kaskaskia and The Maytag Building, which is another CL property.
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  Building Inspector Dennis Hawking said SEAL fully cooperated, and reports would go
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  to the council, according to a 2025 Shaw Local article. A prior
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  redevelopment agreement between the City and C L expired in december twenty
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  twenty, which the city said cost taxpayers money and manpower. So by
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  2025, the property was headed to auction. The city released preferred redevelopment
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  options such as a boutique hotel based on a feasibility study and
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  offered incentives including TIFF funds and historic tax credits. Economic Development Director
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  Kurt Betty said in a 2025 Shaw Local article that the city
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  would support any interested party, including the winning bidder. The resolution passed
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  5-2, with Alderman Thompson and James Deems voting against it. Alderman Jordan
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  Crane was absent.