Joliet officially takes over Evergreen Terrace

JOLIET – The city finally owns Evergreen Terrace.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk confirmed Thursday that the city, which has been in a legal battle regarding the housing complex since 2005, now has ownership after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified the city Wednesday.

“We’re happy,” O’Dekirk said. “It’s been a long process. It’s good we’re able to finally move forward. It’s been a couple years since we paid for it.”

In August 2015, Joliet paid $15 million – a price set by a federal grand jury – for Evergreen Terrace after winning the 10-year condemnation case to take control of the low-income housing project from its private owners.

The former owners appealed the ruling, but a federal appeals court ruled in Joliet’s favor in June 2016. The former owners also wanted to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but were unsuccessful in getting the case heard.

The former owners petitioned that constitutional questions remained to be settled about the effect of city ownership on housing availability for low-income African-Americans.

But Inspector General Chris Regis said in October 2016 that Evergreen Terrace owners were “doing everything they can to delay [Joliet’s] possession of it because they’re making money from it. How much we don’t know, because they won’t tell us.”

Joliet wanted to become owners of the complex before Nov. 1, 2016, but blew past that date, as the legal process was prolonged longer than expected.

O’Dekirk said the next steps are to get inside of the buildings, inspect them and evaluate their condition.

“And for the council to come up with a game plan on how to proceed with the buildings moving forward,” O’Dekirk said.

The title of Evergreen Terrace will not go to the city, but to Riverwalk Homes, the public-private partnership created with an agreement approved by the council in May 2016.

The partnership was created with Holsten, a Chicago-based real estate development and management company that will manage Evergreen Terrace.

Although the partnership between Joliet and Holsten is 50-50, the city has a controlling interest, former City Manager Jim Hock said.

“The document spells out that the city is the controller of all decision-making,” Hock said in June 2016.

Regarding Holsten, Hock said, “[the Department of Housing and Urban Development] wanted to see an experienced development company that they had worked with previously.”

Rent at the complex is subsidized by HUD. As such, the agency has a say in the matter. Holsten oversaw the redevelopment of the Cabrini-Green housing complex in Chicago.