There once was a time in his star-crossed career when Vince Lane was heralded as a visionary.
He was, to many, the successful businessman who took time out from his thriving real estate operation to singlehandedly ride to the rescue of the Chicago Housing Authority. Lane was showered with praise, and there was even talk of a political career, maybe a run for mayor.
But by the time he was ousted from his CHA post in 1995, Lane was under federal investigation, the housing authority was still struggling and his private business empire was riddled with problems. And since then, even though he hasn’t faced criminal charges, his woes have grown.
In December, Lane narrowly averted foreclosure on a cooperative apartment that he owns at 7012 S. South Shore Drive by producing $15,430 to cover overdue payments to Citibank, his lender. But another creditor, the U.S. Small Business Administration, now plans a foreclosure proceeding of its own.
And on Tuesday, the city took the first step to foreclose on a mostly vacant South Side shopping center–a blight on the neighborhood, according to local leaders–co-developed by Lane in what one alderman charged was a misconceived, clout-heavy deal from the start.
Lane long since has left town, and city officials said they have not been able to contact him about the shopping center.
“I don’t know where Vince is,” said Allison Davis, a real estate developer and member of the Chicago Plan Commission who is an old friend of Lane.
“I’ve been trying to contact him, but haven’t been able to.”
When Lane and his partners opened Continental Plaza Shopping Center at 7600 S. Racine Ave. in 1989, it was made possible by a financing package that included a $4 million loan of state and federal money that was issued by the city.
Payments on the loan have never been made, and the developers are in arrears on property taxes to the tune of about $850,000, according to city officials. Now, the city is planning to foreclose on the property and then go after Lane and his partners personally for any unrecouped funds.
“Apparently the plan (for the mall) was ill-advised from the start,” said Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), a member of the City Council’s Budget Committee, which on Tuesday endorsed the plan for a city takeover. “It was just too big.”
Stone contended that Lane got the city loan because of his influence.
Mayor Richard Daley acknowledged a parallel between Lane and former Ald. Patrick Huels (11th), who resigned last fall after conflicts of interest were revealed involving his private business.
“If you don’t take care of your personal business, that’s what happens to people,” he said.
Attempts to contact Lane, who has not been charged with any crime, were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the brown brick Continental Plaza sits forlornly, 80 percent empty and looking more like a ghost town than a shopping center. Signs from many of the long-gone businesses still hang in the windows, beckoning shoppers with false promises.
“Ladies Apparel, Latest Fashion!! Sale,” reads one. But the only thing on the sales floor on Tuesday was a layer of dust.
“The mall is like a sore thumb,” said Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins, executive director of Target Area Development Corp., a non-profit community group. “It makes people feel unsafe. When they see something like that strip mall just laying vacant, it leads to disinvestment.”
Ald. Terry Peterson (17th) also expressed dismay. “For that shopping center to sit there, blighted and vacant–that was one of the hottest topics I had to confront when I was made alderman in 1996,” he said.
Since the center’s grocery was shuttered about five years ago, local residents have had to travel miles to reach the nearest supermarket, Peterson said.
“That store was 24 hours a day, and it had a bakery and fresh produce,” said Wesley Cole, who spoke as he folded clothes in the center’s coin-operated laundry, one of a handful of stores that remains in operation. “It’s a waste this property isn’t being utilized.”
Once the city obtains ownership, Peterson said he hopes that a new grocery will be part of a redevelopment plan that also would include demolition of a portion of the 85,000-square-foot mall.
That land could be added to an adjacent city park.
“Today’s action was a victory for the community,” Peterson said. “Now we can move forward.”
Continental Plaza is no stranger to controversy.
The Tribune reported in 1995 that a federal grand jury was probing the mall’s finances. Federal investigators also questioned bank attorneys about a 1993 lease for a supermarket that was signed by aides to Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan.
The agreement was negotiated at the same time Lane helped Nation of Islam officials land $2.3 million in CHA security contracts.
The lease for the market– which was to have replaced the grocery that folded but never opened–helped Lane and his partners refinance the property and avert a bank takeover.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office here declined to comment on any federal investigation.
No charges have been filed in connection with the matter.
Court records indicate that the impending foreclosure of Continental Plaza will join a long list of legal actions against Lane.
In the last three years, Lane or ventures in which he has been involved have been entangled in a variety of legal skirmishes.
In 1995, a Cook County judge entered a $85,000 judgment against Lane stemming from a promissory note he signed two years earlier. In July 1996, a judge entered a $313,555 judgment against Lane.
According to that suit, Lane had signed a promissory note in October 1993, but the April 1994 payoff deadline came and went without Lane “paying any portion of the monies due.”
Davis said: “I think he is depressed because of all his misfortunes and setbacks. I feel sorry for him.”
Though Lane may have dropped out of sight in Chicago, a Philadelphia official said Tuesday he is alive and apparently well.
Lane is co-developer of Southwark Plaza, a $57 million project planned for 470 new and rehabilitated apartments for low-income residents.
Lane’s performance so far has been “excellent,” said Cordell Blue, deputy director of development for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
“He has been professional and an important cog in the wheel.”
