Angered over the discovery that developers constructing a 400-unit residential development at the former Sara Lee factory strayed from promises made to the village, Deerfield officials have laid out a series of new demands on Glencoe-based developer Optima Inc.
Failure to meet the demands could jeopardize the project.
Tops on the list of demands the Village Board presented to Optima officials last week is for a project manager to be stationed at the Coromandel development during all construction, at the developer’s expense. The board also demanded a list of all deviations from the building plans.
“I’m about of a mind to stop construction until we get this done,” Mayor Bernard Forrest threatened at Tuesday’s Village Board meeting, but then settled for beefing up preventive measures. “We need to make sure the building is done right.”
The flap began last week when the village building department discovered that the developer, without notifying Deerfield, had substituted wood for limestone in the construction of townhouse cornices. The substitution raised concerns among village officials that other changes could be going on without their knowledge.
Also, recent routine inspections discovered a fire lane missing and landscaping errors.
“We were told by other towns that developers will make changes and have to be watched like a hawk,” Forrest said.
Optima officials apologized for failing to notify the village of the cornice material change, calling the omission an “oversight.”
“We ask for forgiveness and that we be allowed to continue using the wood,” said John Murphy, the attorney representing Optima.
The change was made when the developer determined the weight of the stone cornice would be too heavy to safely lift over to the second story, said Optima project manager T.J. Lenick.
Structural integrity is not a problem with the wood and the look is aesthetically pleasing, Murphy said.
The Village Board decided to hire an independent architect to review the cornice design and make recommendations.
There were also complaints at the meeting from several angry buyers complaining construction was not carried out in the manner described when they bought the homes.
Village Manager Robert Franz said the village will be examining deviations from the original plans for building code violations. “But (we) will not referee private disputes between buyers and the builder,” Franz said.
