Following the dismissal of a lawsuit against it, the village of Sugar Grove is reiterating that it has “no choice” but to uphold contracts the previous village administration made for the controversial Crown Community Development project at Interstate 88 and Route 47.
The project is a 760-acre mixed-use development called The Grove, which will sit on what is currently mostly farmland surrounding the Interstate 88 and Route 47 interchange. Proposed by land owner and developer Crown Community Development, it’s set to include neighborhoods, mixed-use commercial and residential areas, a walkable town center and a business park area that could hold warehouses and data centers.
But the project has faced significant public pushback — both before the village gave the project the green light in 2024 and since.
In April, a non-binding referendum question was passed by voters asking the village to reverse its decision on the project. In the same election, former village president Jennifer Konen and an incumbent village trustee — both of whom voted in favor of the Crown project — were voted out.
The project has also been the subject of two lawsuits against the village, one by Kaneland School District 302 and another by nearby resident Dale Essling.
Both lawsuits concerned the village’s establishment of a tax increment financing, or TIF, district for the project area, which has been one of the major points of contention for the development.
A TIF district is a sort of economic development incentive, in which the value of a property is essentially frozen, and the extra or “increment” taxes created by developing the property go into a special fund used to pay for costs related to improving the area. The Sugar Grove Village Board OK’d the creation of a TIF district for the area when it approved the project in 2024.
Kaneland had been in negotiations with Sugar Grove to create an intergovernmental agreement about the TIF district. But, not satisfied with those terms, the district floated the possibility of taking legal action against the village in February, and ultimately moved to sue the village in June.
The school district’s complaint alleged that establishing a TIF district would mean the district loses out on incremental property taxes, and sought to challenge whether the area should qualify for tax increment financing. In the lawsuit, the district requested the village dissolve the TIF district.
That lawsuit, however, was dismissed last week by a Kane County judge, Kane County court records show.
In an emailed statement provided to The Beacon-News on Monday, Kaneland School District Superintendent Kurt Rohlwing said the district maintains that the TIF agreement “presents an undue financial burden on the community and does not adequately address the financial needs of the district.”
Following the dismissal of the lawsuit, Rohlwing said the district is “currently evaluating all available legal options to continue ensuring responsible growth and appropriate funding for education within our boundaries.”
The lawsuit by Essling was initially dismissed, court records show, but Essling says he was allowed to refile, and has since retained an attorney. There is a motion call for the case set for Tuesday.
But now, though the Crown development — and the TIF district for it — has led to public opposition at village meetings, generated legal challenges and influenced local election results, Sugar Grove Village President Sue Stillwell says her administration’s hands are tied when it comes to stopping the project.
“The contracts with Crown Development were established before my administration took office,” Stillwell, who was elected in April, said in a recent news release on the village’s Facebook page. “As were the votes taken during the steps to create the TIF district.”
Stillwell, in the news release, said the village’s staff and attorneys have reviewed the contracts and the minutes of the meetings approved before she took office, and said that the village “has no choice but to uphold all binding agreements.”
Backing out of those contracts now would lead to legal challenges, according to Stillwell.
“Not only would we face legal action,” she said in the news release, “but we would still be required to comply with the terms of the agreement. This would result in a significant financial burden that would ultimately fall on the shoulders of our taxpayers.”
Construction for the Crown project began over the summer in the area set to be the community’s first residential neighborhood.
That area, located along Merrill Road, will include 214 single-family lots, with homebuilding set to begin in 2026, Crown’s Managing Director Jennifer Cowan said in an emailed statement provided to The Beacon-News on Monday.
The project as a whole is set to have as many as 1,500 residences, and at least 200 acres of open space, including parks and trails.
Cowan has previously said the industrial portion of the land is already under contract for a data center, which could be built in the next three to four years.
Going forward, Stillwell noted in the release that the village will be continuing with its contractual obligations to Crown, but said it will “hold all companies developing property in the village to the highest standards permitted by law.”
“We will continue to work diligently to keep our previously made obligations, keep our residents informed, and keep our eyes on all developers doing business with the village,” Stillwell said.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/24/sugar-grove-to-uphold-crown-development-contracts/
