A federal lawsuit alleges the City of Chicago, Ald. Sophia King and others tried to diminish the value of land on the Near South Side so that the owner would sell it for less money.
King Sykes LLC has owned the 6.5-acre plot of land on 25th and King Drive for more than 15 years. The city owns the vacant land across 26th Street, land that used to house Michael Reese Hospital.
King Sykes has alleged in a lawsuit that the city has tried to scare off potential buyers of the land by telling developers they’d never get the required zoning changes. King Sykes alleges the city and developer Scott Goodman want the land at a much reduced price than King Sykes wants to sell it, and are making it so that they would be the only acceptable buyers.
King Sykes LLC said it had a deal in 2020 to sell the property for $30 million to the owner of a data center, but that the deal was quashed by King, who allegedly said the city wanted to buy the land at a cheap price.
There’s been no comment from those named in the suit.
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