Homewood Faces Fight Over Calumet Country Club Annexation

HOMEWOOD, IL — The Village of Homewood Board of Trustees is holding a special board meeting Thursday to decide what to do with the Calumet Country Club property, which is facing annexation into neighboring Hazel Crest.

The move comes after the owners of the 128-acres site, Arizona-based Diversified Partners CRE, approached village officials in 2018 with a plan to build a distribution center there. The proposal calls for several distribution center buildings with loading docks to be built there, along with parking for tractor-trailer trucks. This would result in more than 300 trucks entering and exiting the facility every day. About 116 acres of the site sits in Homewood, with the remainder in Hazel Crest. The former country club land is located at the northwest corner of Dixie Highway and 175th Street.

However, the two sides could not agree on a plan, and the developer has started proceedings to disconnect the land from Homewood. They believe that Hazel Crest may be more willing to accept this type of development, Homewood officials said. If the deal goes through, it could take as long as 24 months to go through.

Trustees will be meet to discuss next steps Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the first-floor boardroom of the Homewood Village Hall at 2020 Chestnut Road. They will be discussing whether to challenge the disconnection petition, accept the disconnection, or re-engage the developer to seek a mutually suitable development.