The story of venerable Chicago music venue the Double Door didn’t end with its closing, with a serious fight between the building’s owner and the neighborhood’s Alderman continuing to plague the currently empty Wicker Park space.
Now, the argument will officially move to federal court.
Brian Strauss, the owner of the building, is seeking $9.6 million in damages in a lawsuit against 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno, claiming that the Alderman violated his civil rights by threatening inappropriate zoning changes that drove away potential buyers.
Strauss claims that Moreno used “aldermanic power” to initiate a zoning change that would limit options for future tenants in a personal vendetta over the venue’s initial eviction. Strauss claims that the Alderman’s threats already deterred a potential deal to replace the venue when he implemented a zoning change that would only allow a single-family home at the site.
Known as spot-zoning, this practice is used to influence building owners by making the space impossible to lease to new businesses.
The lawsuit points out that Moreno and the venue’s owners were friends, claiming “Moreno introduced this downzoning change in an effort to keep his friends at Double Door as tenants in Strauss’ building.”
Previously, an argument between the two was captured on video, with the Alderman obviously threatening Strauss.
“You are not going to get a dime out of this building. It’s going to be an empty building with no income for you or your family,” he said.
Double Door officially closed in February, and has reportedly been looking for a new location in Logan Square.
