Elmhurst Defeats Developer In Lower Court

ELMHURST, IL – For the time being, Elmhurst has beaten back a developer's lawsuit seeking to overturn the city's rejection of a proposed nine-story condo building downtown.

A DuPage County judge sided with the city last month and closed the case. Last week, Elmhurst was notified that the developer, Oak Brook-based RSCK Holdings, was appealing.

The developer had planned the building on York Street across from City Hall.

In March 2023, the City Council voted 11-1 against the request for the complex at 196 to 202 N. York St., where an old house and building now sit.

Under the city code, the developer could only build up to six stories, unless the council granted an exception.

In a lawsuit filed three months after the decision, RSCK said the council's rejection had no "real or substantial relation" to public health, safety or general welfare of the community.

Represented by attorney Louis Bernstein, the firm said it planned 28 "luxury" three-bedroom condos, retail space on the ground level, and a two-story parking deck. The project would have happened at a city-identified underdeveloped site "threatened with blight," RSCK said.

The projected investment was $26.6 million, with each condo expected to sell for $1.1 million, the lawsuit said.

During hearings, neighbors, particularly in the One95 six-story condo complex, contended that the shadowing from a nine-story building would affect them negatively.