Burr Ridge Gets $2.7M Offers For Village Hall

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge has received two $2.7 million offers for its 40-year-old Village Hall building.

Both companies want to do the same thing with the building – convert it into a preschool.

This is a trend. Last winter, Pleasantdale District 107 wanted to buy the structure for a preschool. And earlier this fall, another firm wanted it for the same purpose. Both withdrew.

The two latest companies are both preschool chains – Goddard School and Primrose Schools.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, trustees agreed that Goddard had the better offer.

Originally, both firms required the village to cover a 5 percent brokerage fee, amounting to $135,000. That meant the village's net income would be $2,565,000.

But during a presentation, Goddard representative Craig Cassell, who works for real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, removed the brokerage fee for Goddard.

His company offered $135,000 in earnest money, a lot more than Primrose's $35,000.

"The earnest money for Primrose is unacceptable," Mayor Gary Grasso said. "$135,000 from Goddard, that at least seems to be a fair amount of money."

The company that withdrew had planned to tear down Village Hall and build anew. But both Goddard and Primrose said they would renovate it.

"It makes sense to use the existing structure because if any operator had to tear down and rebuild, the economics or the numbers just wouldn't make sense," Cassell said.

Both Cassell and Primrose's Patrick Ford cited the demand for daycare in the western suburbs. Ford noted that being next to the police station was Village Hall's advantage.

"We are very serious about getting this building," Ford said.

The Village Board voted to direct its staff to work on a contract with Goddard. Trustee Tony Schiappa was absent.

"We're going to stay focused on this and move as fast as possible," Grasso said.

The building was appraised at $1.8 million. The company that withdrew offered $2.3 million.

Burr Ridge plans to build an addition to the police department for a new Village Hall.