Foreclosure suits hit Lincoln Park luxury home sites
(Crain's) — Foreclosure suits seeking more than $8.2 million have been filed against two sites controlled by a developer of high-end Lincoln Park homes whose customers have included Eric of the "Eric & Kathy" morning radio show.
State Bank of Countryside is seeking to collect more than $5.7 million on the two parcels at 1701-03 N. Dayton St., where ventures controlled by developer Seth Harris, president of SMH Development LLC, has started construction of two 6,500-square-foot homes.
Separately, Lakeside Bank is seeking to collect just over $2.5 million on a nearly completed 5,100-square-foot home at 2140 N. Clifton St., about seven blocks away.
Joey Waldman, an attorney for Mr. Harris, declined to comment.
The projects are the product of a wave of optimism that developers rode in the Chicago area's ritziest neighborhoods — until recently.
"These homes were planned when things were still good," says Ron Benninga, president of Red House Development Inc., another Chicago luxury homebuilder not involved in the three foreclosure cases.
The foreclosures come even though the housing market in the Lincoln Park has held up reasonably well compared to other areas. Prices of single-family homes in zip code 60614, which includes Lincoln Park, dropped just 2.7% last year, the smallest decline of 84 zip codes in the Chicago area, according to Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc.
Related story: Home price decline slowing
Countryside alleges that two ventures controlled by Mr. Harris each defaulted on a separate loan by missing monthly payments, according to separate complaints filed May 13 in Cook County Circuit Court. The amount and date of the alleged missed payments are not disclosed in the complaints. Each of the $2.87-million loans were made in July 2008.
Mr. Harris had planned to build two three-story houses, each with five bedrooms and a three-car garage. Only the basement walls for each have been constructed.
Richard C. Jones, partner at Chicago law firm Jones & Jacobs, who represents Countryside, declined to comment.
Chicago-based Lakeside Bank is seeking to collect just over $2.5 million on the nearly completed single-family home at 2140 N. Clifton, according to a complaint filed June 3 in Cook County. The 5,100-square-foot, three-story home is under contract, according to the SMH Web site.
Since Mr. Harris started SMH in 2000, the company has built more than 20 single-family homes in the Lincoln Park area, including the home of Eric Ferguson of the "Eric & Kathy" morning show on WTMX-FM 101.9. Built in 2005, the $2.45-million, 6,200-square-foot brick and limestone house has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, three fireplaces and a basement home theater with a projection screen, according to published reports.
