Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Bruce Hawkins, formerly of Algonquin, was charged with eight counts of bank fraud for his role in the collapse of the Riverside Square project in downtown Algonquin.
Bank fraud charges have been filed in federal court against the former developer of Riverside Square—a building project in downtown Algonquin that long stood vacant at Route 31 and Route 62, according to an Illinois Department of Justice press release. Bruce Hawkins, formerly of Algonquin, is accused of of defrauding Amcore Bank of more than $1 million and contributing to the collapse of the downtown Algonquin project, according to the DOJ press release. Hawkins is the former owner of Aspen Homebuilders, Inc., which went bankrupt in 2008. Hawkins was arrested Monday and appeared in federal court in Denver. He was ordered to appear for an arraignment at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 27 in Chicago and released after posting a $25,000 unsecured bond. …
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The exterior of the building must be completed by late summer, otherwise the village may collect the secured letter of credit and obtain a default judgment for a demolition order.
Life has been brought back to Riverside Square—with one change. Now it will be called Riverside Plaza. On Tuesday, the village board approved a settlement agreement that calls for completion of the building as originally planned. The village has required that the new developers, Riverside Plaza Developers LLC, secure the agreement with a letter of credit. If certain milestones are not met by the agreed deadlines, the village may collect the letter of credit and obtain a default judgment for a demolition order. “When it’s all said and done, this project will be a positive and important development for our Old Town District,” said Village President John Schmitt in a statement. According to the agreement, the exterior of the building must be…
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The village of Algonquin has been pursuing a court order to have the structure demolished since March 2010.
Algonquin village officials will be holding a special closed-door meeting Tuesday evening to discuss “pending litigation” before its regularly scheduled village board meeting. Officials today have confirmed that the April 12 special meeting has to do with the village’s Riverside Square lawsuit demolition, but that was all Village Manager William Ganek could say on the matter. Since March 2010, the village has been pursuing a court order to have the half-finished Riverside Square structure demolished, citing reasons of public safety. Last month a developer purchased the property from Harris bank, but has not yet revealed any plans for completing the structure. The Riverside Square Developers, a father and son out of Barrington, have not …
Friday, March 11, 2011
The half-finished, foreclosed structure at Routes 31 and 62 in downtown Algonquin has an owner.
UPDATE: Algonquin Village Manager William Ganek has confirmed the sale of Riverside Square. He was unable to disclose the official name of the buyer or the price the property was sold for. Since last week’s court hearing, there has been increased speculation as to whether a Des Plaines developer is going to close on a deal to purchase Algonquin’s downtown Riverside Square. The half-completed structure at Routes 31 and 62, also known as Tyvek Towers, has a long history, which can be read here. But more recently, after a March 3 court hearing to determine the future of the property when there were no qualified bids at a public auction in January, the conjecture has been that John Breugelmans of Lakeland Asset Management has been moving …
Friday, January 21, 2011
No buyers met the minimum required bid of $1.25 million.
The forsaken Riverside Square—or Tyvek Towers—was supposed to be auctioned off yesterday to interested buyers, except there were no buyers. “There were no qualified written bids submitted by the deadline Wednesday,” said Joel Schneider of Atlas Partners, the real estate firm hired to market the property. “There were two parties who said they were interested in bidding, but they had not met the legal requirements.” Schneider said the action has been continued to March 3 and will be in front of the same judge, although he’s not sure if there is going to be another auction for the property that sits at the intersection of Routes 31 and 62. In late fall, Atlas Partners was retained, or hired, by the receiver of the property to market the …
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The village wants the structure torn down, citing it a hazard to the public, while Harris Bank is still hopeful for a buyer.
While Algonquin pushes for the demolition of Tyvek Towers—formally known as Riverside Square—developers are still hoping a buyer will come along. The half-finished structure at the intersection of Illinois Routes 31 and 62 in downtown Algonquin sits untouched since work halted on the project in October 2008. Originally, Riverside Square was to be home to 54 condominium units and 12,000 square feet of retail space with an underground parking garage. Now, village officials say they want the structure demolished to ensure safety for residents and businesses in direct proximity to the construction site located in the heart of the downtown corridor. According to court documents, the project was approved in November 2006, and construction …
Soonwinner
9:37 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012
There is a lot of loose change involved in this fraud. Given the unmarketability of the project nothing nefarious would surprise me. This is the kind of stuff that goes on in Chicago, were bad buildings are built, sometimes BEFORE the permits are issued, because the builder has the right connections. Just saying. more ›