Illinois appeals court sides with South Beloit on Garden Hotel demolition
Published by John on
SOUTH BELOIT – An Illinois appeals court sided with the City of South Beloit on the costs of demolishing the former Garden Hotel.
On April 17, the Illinois Appellate of the 4th District ruled that the city gave the hotel owner, New Chapter Group, fair notice of code violations, that repairing the hotel made no economic sense, and that the city was justified in demolishing the hotel and imposing fines.
“The condition of the former Garden Hotel had long posed a danger to our residents and a blight on our city,” South Beloit Mayor Tom Fitzgerald said in a news release. “We are grateful that both the circuit and appellate courts recognized the city’s efforts and upheld the demolition order. This decision paves the way for us to move forward and explore new opportunities for growth and revitalization at this key location.”
In March 2024, a Winnebago County, Illinois judge ruled that New Chapter Group was in violation of numerous ordinances at the 200 Dearborn Ave. property and awarded the city $825,500. That brought the total amount of fines due to the city to $8,825,000. The court also granted the city’s request to be able to demolish the property within 30 days if the owners did not initiate demolition. New Chapter Group appealed that decision
New Chapter Group remains the owner of record of what used to be home to a 161-room hotel complex.
The city contracted Green Demolition of La Porte, Indiana to tear down the hotel for $1.35 million. The asbestos removal on the site was extensive and a change order was approved for an additional $161,480. Because of the asbestos, Green Demolition has until the end of April to complete the cleanup.
Once cleanup on the site is complete, the city will file another lien on the property seeking reimbursement for the demolition costs. All told, when finished, New Chapter Group is expected to owe more than $10 million for all the costs associated with the property.
The next legal hurdle comes this summer. South Beloit has a July 16 court date in Winnebago County on the foreclosure case it first filed on the property in 2020.
The hotel at 200 Dearborn Ave. opened as a Holiday Inn in 1964. The hotel closed in 2007 briefly before reopening as a Ramada Inn. It closed again in 2009 but was opened in 2010 as the South Beloit Hotel.
In 2014, the Ariva Hospitality Group, which later would become the New Chapter Group, bought the property and opened it as the Garden Hotel. The Garden Hotel closed in March of 2019 and never reopened. The Winnebago County Health Department condemned the property in September 2019.
