After years of trying, Lyons Township High School District 204 might finally sell its contentious Willow Springs property by the end of the year.
The District 204 School Board voted Sept. 21 to begin accepting bids for approximately 70 acres of undeveloped land. Bids are due Nov. 9, and the district will consider the bids that evening. The district has been keen to ink a potentially lucrative land deal for years as a way to pay for facilities upgrades and other costly repairs without raising taxes.
Nearby residents have eyed any potential deal with skepticism over fears that the wealthiest bidders could represent industrial interests. In the past, the district has courted lucrative offers from industrial developers. In 2023, the board set a minimum sale price of $55 million for the land and Bridge Industrial offered that, while another industrial firm offered nearly $47 million.
Both those bids were rejected and the process paused briefly as community outrage simmered and resulted in a board shakeup. Since then, the renewed process for the land sale has taken years. There is no minimum attached to the bid request this time.
The land is zoned a B-1 district, which allows for residential and some commercial development. However, any buyer could petition Willow Springs to have the zoning changed to suit the needs of the buyer. The parcel is across the street from a large UPS shipping hub. Area residents have long opposed any industrial use of the property, which is near an elementary school as well as housing developments. Nevertheless, the district’s marketing plan to potential buyers did make a case for industrial use.
More Top Picks Best Bathroom Soap Dish
Residents say they have reason to fear an industrial buyer.
“Unlike the last attempt, they are also promoting an option to bid without the due diligence period of 180 days, and sell ‘as is,’” area resident Fred Whiting said in an e-mail. Whiting added he didn’t know of any public meetings outside of board meetings to engage with residents, and he cast doubt on the board’s willingness to hear public concern.
“This appears to be LT’s preferred method, a quick sale, leaving the winning bidder to muscle the village for zoning concessions. But quickly washing their hands of the property before proper zoning hearings could take place would leave them with little or no control,” he said.
For school officials, the process has been anything but quick. Prior to the vote, board President Tim Albores reviewed the district’s timeline since 2024, when the district renewed efforts to sell the land. He said the board has met with community leaders and, this past spring, hired a consulting firm to attract buyers.
At the Sept. 21 board meeting, he called the public discussions “extensive.”
The board approved opening the bidding process without further comment. Nobody from the public spoke on the issue at the meeting.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.