A grass-roots group hoping to buy the 14 acres where a controversial commercial development is being proposed on the edge of the Braeburn Marsh in Batavia received its second financial boost in a week Wednesday.
With one dissenting vote, the Kane County Board’s Executive Committee recommended that the full board approve committing up to $1 million in riverboat funds to aid the Braeburn Marsh Defenders.
Last Friday, the Kane County Forest Preserve District’s Executive Committee took similar action, voting to have its board pledge $1 million from its land-acquisition funds.
While leaders of the Braeburn Marsh Defenders were gratified by the county government’s move to support their cause, the developer wasn’t impressed by the moves.
“It is uneventful they would offer $2 million for a $12 million piece of property that isn’t even for sale,” said George Hanus, president of Chicago-based Aetna Development Corp.
Gary Mack, a public relations consultant for the company, said, “That’s what we believe the land is worth because there have been land sales in the vicinity that would equate into that kind of figure for these parcels of land. This is absolute prime commercial real estate that has been zoned for commercial for many years.”
Other sources have said they believe the land is worth about a third of that amount.
The Braeburn Marsh Defenders began campaigning last fall against Aetna’s plans to build a 120,000-square-foot commercial center on the acreage, an L-shaped parcel at the southeast corner of Randall Road and Fabyan Parkway. The center would be anchored by a 45,000-square-foot Best Buy store.
