Nice deal if you can get it

The Village of Bourbonnais cut a very nice deal for Edgemark Realty on Monday night. Apparently, the redevelopment of a shopping center anchored by a new Jewel (and, apparently, an Office Depot where an old Jewel once stood) had some cost overruns because of a UST and ACM (that's underground storage tank and asbestos-containing materials for you civilians). So, the Village forgave Edgemark's $450,000 purchase price for the land where Jewel is now (a former K-Mart site).

I am philosophically opposed to this giveaway for two reasons. First, I don't think government should generally be a backstop for development risk. Second, I'm surprised that the UST and ACM were unforeseen. But maybe that is because of my past experience with buildings almost identical to those in question and where, lo-and-behold, we found a UST and ACM. I've seen enough of their (excellent) projects to have no doubt in my mind that the Edgemark guys are smart and know what they are doing.

In any event, in spite of my philospohical bent, I do give Edgemark a ton of credit for getting a deal like this. Good for them!

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