(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — An old Chicago firehouse in Jefferson Park is on track to be sold to a developer who promises to pay for extensive lead remediation before turning it into a brewery.
Now, the adjacent Copernicus Center is suing the city, claiming it was unfairly left out of the bidding process.
The plan by developer Ambrosia Homes, which would pay $1 for the site but spend money for environmental mitigation, has already gotten the approval of the Chicago Plan Commission, and it has the support of Preservation Chicago. Ambrosia also has started a website to try to drum up more community support.
But a stone's throw away from the 1906 firehouse is the Copernicus Foundation, which is suing the city, saying it shouldn't have been shut out of the process.
The foundation's attorney is former alderman Bob Fioretti.
"Copernicus Foundation is willing to pay up to $300,000 and pay for the cost of remediation. There's no reason the city should be looking at a $1 offer," he said Wednesday.
Fioretti said there's been some "misunderstanding" about the foundation's intentions. They would put the building on the tax rolls, he said.
The Ambrosia plan would do that, too.
Ambrosia and others have raised questions about the Copernicus Foundation's ability to pay for everything.
A city Law Department spokesperson says they haven't seen the lawsuit yet and cannot comment.
