29-Mar-20 – The developer of a condominium project in River North has sued the City of Chicago, claiming the city sold it a commercial parking lot but is now blocking them from operating it.

Morningside Huron, LLC, purchased the parking lot at 365 West Huron Street from the city in 2018 for $3.86 million. The company has plans to construct a ten-story residential building there and offer about 45 luxury condominium units for between $1 million and $2 million each. For now, Morningside Huron wants to operate the parking lot and sought city permits to do so.

In January, however, according to the complaint, Zoning Administrator Patrick Murphey (left) denied Morningside Huron’s request for a permit for a commercial driveway into the parking lot. The company says the driveway permit would allow a tenant of the company to take over operation of the parking lot from the city.

The decision caught Morningside Huron by surprise, it says, since at no time during their negotiations to buy the parking lot did representatives for the city express concern about allowing the company to operate the parking lot until it was ready to build the condo tower.

The complaint says Murphey denied the permit because the city had “no valid driveway permits or licenses on file” for the parking lot. Morningside Huron calls the reasoning “circular and illogical,” pointing out such permits were not needed because the parking lot was owned by the city.

The lawsuit was filed on March 3 in the Chancery Division of Circuit Court. Morningside Huron is asking the court to order the city to issue the permit and pay its attorney fees.