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La Salle to buy former hotel Kaskaskia for $20,000, plans demolition · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  La Salle to buy former Hotel Kaskaskia for twenty thousand dollars plans
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  demolition. Written by Emily Bebe. This article is bring read
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  by an automated voice, brought to you by Everlet. The LaSalle City
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  Council on Monday authorizing the purchase of the former Hotel Kaskaskia property
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  for 20,000, with the city’s intending to demolish the long-vacant downtown landmark
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  and bring a years-long legal dispute over the building to an end.
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  The council voted 6-1 on an ordinance authorizing the purchase and the
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  execution of a dismissal with prejudice against Troy Heather LLC in LaSalle
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  County, case number two, zero two five-mr00055, the result of the city,
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  lawsuit over alleged code violations. First Ward Alderman James Deems voted against
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  the measure. First Ward
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  Alderman Bob Thompson, who opposed the underlying settlement at the October 12th
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  meeting, was absent. Fourth Ward Alderman Jordan Crane who was absent for
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  the October 12 settlement vote, was hesitant before voting. This was a
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  tough one for me, Crane said. Due to the best interest of
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  the city, my vote will be aye for this, with the shame
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  of C. L and the position they put us in. Third Ward
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  Alderman John Lavieri was more succinct. Reluctantly I, Lavieri said. Mayor Jeff
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  Grove
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  also voted aye. Deputy City Clerk Brent Bader said the city is
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  searching for funds to help demolish the hotel Kaskaskia. It is the
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  City of LaSalle's intent to demolish the building Bader said. So we
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  are currently seeking state or federal funds to help us do so,
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  and if not, we're going to seek any other options that we
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  have available to us to do that, including possibly using TIFF funds.
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  Grove said the demolition will not be paid for with ordinary property
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  tax revenue, pointing to downtown
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  TIF funds and grants. No demolition cost estimate has been set. Grove
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  said restoring the building is not realistic, and city personnel have inspected
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  it. It's dangerous. It's unsafe for people walking outside, and it's just
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  an eyesore for downtown, Grove said sits been twenty six years. Every
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  year We
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  wait, it's not going to get cheaper. Grove traced the building's recent
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  history. Blout Carras bought the hotel at auction in 2003 for 1.
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  A purchase Grove
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  said the council backed. The city created a downtown.
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  TIFF zone in April 2007 to incentivize redevelopment that never came together.
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  The owner's roof repairs were never reimbursed because the project was never
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  completed, and the developer's TIFF agreement was never finalized, Bader said. Asked
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  why the city does not keep pursuing the owners in court, Grove
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  said the building sits inside a separate LLC that shields other assets.
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  We can't make them pay, Grove said. They can say we have
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  no money in this LLC, and it'd just be a waste of
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  money. The attorneys will make money on both sides. For the site's
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  future, Groves said the
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  city hopes to open up room downtown. Hopefully give some room there
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  for our downtown, some some green space to start, and we'll see
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  whatever happens from there, Grove said. Second Ward Alderman Tom Patak suggested
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  a public park at the site during the Council's October 12 meeting.
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  We cannot recover the years that have passed, Patak said at the
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  time, but we can still work towards a better outcome. Monday's vote
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  came two weeks after the council approved, five two, A settlement dismissing
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  Kaskaskia Development LLC from the case and substituting Troy Heather LLC as
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  defendant. Thompson Tommies voted against that settlement, and Crane was absent, according
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  to an October 14th Shaw Local article Thompson said at the time
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  the city had spent well over hundreds of thousands of dollars in
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  legal fees on the building. The Hotel Kaskaskia, a six-story National Register
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  landmark that takes up most of a city block, has been at
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  the center of a dispute between the city and its owners. LaSalle
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  obtained a search warrant for the hotel in June 2022 after citing
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  busted windows, animals inside and cracks in the facade, and completed inspections
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  in January 2025, according to an October 14 Shaw local article. A
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  redevelopment agreement expired in December 2020, and by 2025 the property was
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  headed to auction, with the city releasing preferred redevelopment options based on
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  a feasibility study. A July 2025 Shaw Local article reported. No demolition
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  date has been set. Grove invited residents, with questions to reach out
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  to him, the alderman, or Bader.