Lyons Township High Ranks Brokers To Sell Willow Springs Land

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School board members have highly ranked two brokers who said they would work with Willow Springs in selling the school's property.

The stated strategy of the firms is the opposite of the one that the board pursued three years ago.

At the time, the board's secrecy drew local wrath and unfavorable rulings from the attorney general.

This week, the board released members' ratings for the six firms vying to serve as the broker for selling 71 acres in Willow Springs.

They ranked the firms on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being highest. CBRE and NAI Hiffman got 1.5 and 2, respectively. At 3.2, the third-highest was Mohall Commercial and Urban Development.

The three are considered the finalists.

Now, the school is conducting reference checks and a legal review of their proposals, the board's president, Tim Albores, said at this week's meeting.

"This process will take some time to complete," he said.

He said the board expected to provide more information to the public before or at its Jan. 20 meeting.

The lower-ranked brokers were DarwinPW Realty (4), Baum Realty (4.5) and Scale Advisory (5.8). Scale did not present at the earlier board meeting, with officials saying its representatives could not make it.

Baum Realty seemed focused on the industrial development of the property. Its representative repeatedly referred to a 2022 appraisal showing the land's value at $68 million.

But that appraisal, which was done secretly, assumed the land would go to an industrial developer, the board's wish at the time.

After the backlash in 2023, the board commissioned another appraisal under the current zoning. The school decided to keep that document under wraps from the public, which it appears to have the right to do under state law.