Homewood trustees voted unanimously Tuesday, July 9, to follow the staff recommendation and choose Grace Cui’s proposal to buy 2018-2020 Ridge Road, formerly Karate Kids.
Cui is a real estate developer and owner of the Gottschalk House on Martin Avenue. She plans to open a Mongolian barbecue restaurant in the space.
She approached the village about buying the property in April. As required by law, the village advertised for alternate bids. Normally, the village posts such invitations in a newspaper of record, typically the Daily Southtown, but after two trustees urged staff to more assertively promote the process, the village also posted the call for bids on its website and social media pages.
Two additional proposals were received before the June 11 deadline, one for a juice and smoothie bar and one for a media studio.
At the board meeting June 25, Economic and Community Development Director Angela Mesaros explained the criteria staff used to evaluate the three proposals, including best use, community and village benefit, sustainability and best fit.
Before trustees voted on the recommendation, however, a fourth proposal was offered by a downtown property owner, Tom Kidwell, who said he told staff several years ago that he was interested in 2018-2020 Ridge. He made a pitch for a chance to submit a late proposal.
At that meeting, the board did not address his request, nor did any trustee make a motion to approve the staff recommendation so the option to sell the property was tabled.
At the meeting Tuesday, July 9, trustees all expressed support for Cui’s proposal, and two addressed the lack of motion at the previous meeting.
“It is my understanding that the bidding process was fair and open,” Trustee Julie Willis said. “The criteria that staff used was very detailed, so I’m satisified with the recommendation.”
Trustee Lauren Roman also offered clarification on the board’s inaction at the previous meeting, directing her comments to Cui.
“We all were very excited even at our last meeting for you guys to come to Homewood and be in that location,” she said. “But it’s our job up here to make sure every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed and that we’re doing our due diligence.”
