Lilydale City Council Approves Demolition of Tennis Club for Plans to Build Luxury Apartments and Senior Housing Units

The Lilydale City Council approved plans to begin demolishing vacant office buildings and the former Lilydale Tennis and Fitness Club building which has been vacant since 2006.

In its place, on Sibley Memorial Highway, developer John Wall hopes to build a 120-unit senior housing complex and a 49-unit luxury apartment building.

Wall, the developer from Lilydale Apartments LLC, said the entire demolition process would take six to eight weeks. He asked the council to approve demolition work between the hours of 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.

City Council member John Diehl recommended the council approve demolition under three conditions: no demolition would start before 7 a.m. daily so neighbors would not be awakened in the early morning hours, workers should use a standard dust mitigation technique to avoid dust mingling in the air, and employ the use of a silt fence to detect erosion.

The Council unanimously approved the demolition request under those conditions.

But during a progress report about the development agreement, which the council has not yet given final approval, many council members wanted to know what the city’s  legal options and rights were if they approved the building of the apartments and senior housing, and then plans fell through.

“I wonder what the impact on the city is if the bank bonds are never paid for and the building is never built,” said Warren Peterson, a Lilydale City Council Member.

So far, the council has only approved the concept plans for the two housing units. Although any approval of final plans is at least one month away, Monday night’s council meeting centered heavily on discussions of “what if.”

“The city council is just trying to be cautious,” explained Mayor Anita Pampusch. “Its very hard to find financing. It’s harder to get financing these days than it was five years ago.”

A 2006 plan from Mendota Homes to build a condo development fell through because the developer, John Mathern, could not get the project funded. That site went into foreclosure.

But the new developer, John Wall, said making sure the property would be paid for shouldn’t be a concern—at least not right now.

“As far as I know, securing financing is not a prerequisite to the council’s approval on the project,” Wall said to the Council.

In the end, the council agreed to take things one step at a time, and start “moving things according to the normal progression,” Council member John Diehl said.

“It feels like things are kind of falling off that wagon,” Diehl said.

Next week, Wall will make a presentation of his plans to the city’s planning commission, who will later make a recommendation to the council on whether to approve it. The planning commission meeting will take place Monday at 4 p.m.

A public hearing about the plans is set for July 11 at 4 p.m. Immediately after the public hearing is the regular City Council meeting, which will begin at 5 p.m. The council will vote on the final plans for development during that meeting.

Wall said that pending the Council's approval, construction for the senior housing would begin in September and end one year later. Construction for the luxury apartments would begin April 2012 for a completion date of May 2013.