Developer Paul Larino of Larino Properties LLC has terminated the contract with Springfield Public Schools to purchase the former Hickory Hills School property at Chestnut Expressway and Highway 65.
In a letter to SPS received Dec. 11, Larino cited an inability to secure Eau Claire, Wis.-based home-improvement store Menard’s as the anchor tenant of the development.
"As you are well aware, the viability of the development rested on securing a major anchor tenant and adequate funding," Larino wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 7. "Menard's was under contract to purchase the anchor lot and construct a large home improvement store thereon. Unfortunately, Menard's terminated their contract with (Larino Properties) just a few weeks before it was scheduled to close."
Larino said his company also had several delays and scheduling issues that left the developer unable to secure bank financing to pay for the project.
"Because all of these factors that are beyond our control, (Larino Properties) is unable to proceed under the purchase agreement and is forced to rescind it," he wrote.
In December 2010, SPS finalized the sale of the property for $4.45 million to Larino, who was working to build a 46-acre development known as Hickory Hills Marketplace. Though the sale initially laid out payment schedules of $2.5 million by June 15, 2011, $1 million by Dec. 31, 2015, and a final payment of $950,000 by Dec. 31, 2017, the district granted the developer several contract extensions and an alternative payment schedule.
The fourth and latest contract extension, on Sept. 18, gave Larino another 90 days to make a $2.5 million payment toward the purchase. As of that date, Larino had paid the district $200,000, including $75,000 that didn't go toward the purchase price because of an amended contract stipulation, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
SPS has announced it is seeking a new buyer for the property. A news release noted the property was improved during the span of Larino's contract, and the former school building was demolished.
School board President Tom Prater said the new Hickory Hills School constructed at 4650 E. State Highway YY was another success of deciding to sell the property. Students moved into the school in January 2010.
“We were concerned about the safety risk and believed that it was no longer a suitable location for a school, so we took action,” Prater said in the release. “Although the sale of this property has been a lengthy process, in retrospect, we are proud that we have been able to provide Hickory Hills students the best possible learning environment for the past three years rather than delaying until the property sold.”
Larino also has had delays at Wilson’s Creek Marketplace at Republic Road and West Bypass, where a second Menard's also was in the works, according to
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