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2 bidders out, so District 211 still has land to sell

A home developer whose top bid for Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211's 62 acres of vacant land in Schaumburg was approved 14 months ago has backed out of the proposed sale.

Though the second-highest bidder also recently informed the district of its inability to honor that bid, the school board could decide at its May 23 meeting to sell the land to the third-highest bidder.

All three companies' bids exceeded the district's minimum price of $17 million and expressed an intention to fulfill the village of Schaumburg's preferred use of the site for single-family homes.

M/I Homes of Chicago's high bid was $20.5 million, while the next highest was from Pulte Home Company LLC of Schaumburg at $20.1 million.

The third-highest bid of $17.7 million was from Nitti Development LLC of Glendale Heights, which is now the leading contender for the site unless the school board decides to reopen bidding.

Board members made no comments when notification of the termination of the M/I Homes agreement was formally made during their meeting Thursday night.

District 211 bought the land bordered by Summit Drive to the west, Plum Grove Road to the east, Wise Road to the south and existing houses extending from Weathersfield Way to the north nearly half a century ago for a potential new school that was ultimately never needed.

Establishing a final use for the site was made a priority by the district's new strategic plan in 2016. The school board voted 6-1 in October 2017 to start advertising the sale of the land and solicited bids in early 2018.

Though District 211 had already completed environmental testing of the site, when M/I Homes' high bid was approved in March 2018 the company received a 120-day verification period to do its own. This was then to be followed by a 180-day approval period.

Last December, the board amended the agreement to extend the approval period to April 30. But when that day arrived last week, M/I Homes notified the district it was terminating the agreement.

The village of Schaumburg will be the entity to approve any construction on the site and last received an updated proposal from M/I Homes in February that included 98 single-family homes and 42 duplex units, Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said.

Nothing found or discussed during that review process has changed the village's vision for the property as a future neighborhood of such homes, she said.

M/I Homes officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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