Developer Draper and Kramer saw its chances of building a 30-story condo highrise at 1320 North Lake Shore Drive slip further away today when the Illinois Appellate Court ruled that it didn’t have a “vested right” to build the tower, which was fiercely opposed by many Gold Coast residents.
Draper and Kramer had claimed it pumped more than $300,000 into the project before the city downzoned the site in 1999, giving it legal cause to proceed with the development on the grounds that the company incurred “substantial expenses”.
But a judge found the developer actually spent closer to $36,000 before it discovered the project was in jeopardy. He ruled that $36,000 didn’t amount to a substantial expense for the powerful development company, according to news reports.