Aurora Beacon-News -- Series and related stories on Prairie Parkway
Aurora Beacon-News
June 15, 2006
Property within 5 miles of Prairie Parkway corridor
By Matthew DeFour
Staff writer
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert made a $2 million profit on land sold
to a real estate developer within a few miles of the proposed Prairie
Parkway, a Beacon News investigation has found.
The Yorkville Republican sold the property through a real estate trust
in December, about three years after purchasing some of the land as
part of his 195-acre estate northwest of Plano.
According to property records, Hastert sold for $2.48 million a 69-acre
parcel that he purchased in September 2002 for about $749,000, or a
$1.7 million profit.
He also sold for $627,000 a one-quarter interest in an adjacent 70-acre
parcel that he purchased in 2004 for $340,000, or a $287,000 profit.
Hastert reported the property transactions as part of a congressional
financial disclosure statement released Wednesday. The reports require
members of Congress to list last year's assets and debts, along with
any income beyond their $162,100 salary.
Following the disclosure, the Sunlight Foundation, a congressional
watchdog, published a report alleging Hastert used the trust to obscure
the property sale profits. Hastert's lawyer responded to the story
saying the implication was libelous.
Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean dismissed connections between the profit
and the proposed Prairie Parkway, which Hastert has been promoting
since he took federal office in the 1980s as a way to address
transportation needs in western Kane and Kendall counties. The roadway
would connect Interstate 88 in central Kane County to Interstate 80
near Minooka, winding much of its way through Kendall County.
Hastert delivered $207 million in federal transportation dollars in
July 2005 for the $1 billion Prairie Parkway project, which is in the
final planning stages.
"This is a Washington, D.C., special-interest group who is trying to
throw mud against the wall to see what sticks," Bonjean said. "None of
the properties purchased by the Speaker are close enough to the Prairie
Parkway to be affected by the proposed highway."
He said Hastert's home is more than five miles west of a protected
corridor the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) identified in
2001.
A development to be built on part of the former Hastert property is
about three miles west of the parkway corridor, and The Beacon News
will report Sunday how the development stands to benefit from the
proposed road.
Bonjean added that Hastert placed the 69 acres in Little Rock Trust
#225 in May 2005 because the property is on the other side of a creek
and had no roadway access.
The adjacent 70 acres of property that was acquired by the trust in
2004 did have access, which made the combined properties more valuable,
Bonjean said.
Bonjean said the other partners in the trust were Kendall County
Republican Party Chairman Dallas Ingemunson and Tom Klatt, a former
Bristol Township trustee.
Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn said the Speaker and his wife purchased the
three parcels of his estate together in 2002 for $2.125 million because
the previous owner did not want to break up the farmland.
He said Hastert did not necessarily intend to sell the property.
"Property values are skyrocketing throughout Kendall County because of
the rapid growth and development that is taking place," Hahn said.
"When there is rapid growth and higher demand for property, it drives
up the price."
The value of Hastert's property increased from $10,865 per acre to
$36,034 per acre in the three-year period from when Hastert originally
purchased his home to when the trust sold the property to the Robert
Arthur Land Company for $4.989 million.
The real estate company, owned by Batavia developer Art Zwemke, plans
to build 1,635 homes along with 33 acres of commercial space on 727
acres on Galena Road west of Little Rock Road. The project is being
reviewed by the Plano Plan Commission.
That development would be about three miles west of the intersection of Galena Road and the proposed Prairie Parkway.
The Kendall County Board recently endorsed building an interchange at
that location, though IDOT does not plan to build access points at
county highways.
IDOT officials don't expect drivers on the Prairie Parkway until at least 2011.
The Speaker's deals
2002: Hastert purchases 195 acres for his home near Plano for $2.125 million. The land was valued at about $10,865 per acre.
2004: Hastert buys one-quarter of an adjacent 70-acre parcel for $340,000 through a real estate trust.
May 2005: Hastert transfers a 69-acre parcel from his estate to the
same trust. The parcel was worth about $748,598 when purchased in 2002.
December 2005: Trust sells the 139 acres to a developer for $4.989 million, about $36,034 per acre.
• The value of Hastert's 69 acres was about $2,482,742 —
$1,734,144 more than when purchased. The value of the trust's original
70-acre parcel was $2,506,164, so Hastert's quarter-share profit was
$286,541. In total, the deals netted Hastert a profit of $2 million.