CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
January 26, 2006 Thursday
Final Edition
DePaul selling former Barat College site to developer
David Roeder
DePaul University said Wednesday it is selling the
former Barat College in Lake Forest to local housing builder Robert Shaw.
Terms for the 23-acre site, 700 E.
Westleigh Rd., were not disclosed. Barat, which
DePaul closed in June, poses a rare opportunity for large-scale development in
a built-up section of the wealthy North
Shore community.
Plans haven't been finalized, but officials said it will preserve some features
of the campus, including the original college building called Old Main, now
slated for condominiums. The broad south lawn, the location of Barat's
"Shakespeare on the Green" festivals, will be preserved, Shaw and
DePaul said.
DePaul bought the liberal arts school in 2001.
Shaw is a Lake Forest resident who has built
subdivisions in the community and developed homes in Colorado
and North Carolina.
He ran the speaker manufacturer International Jensen Inc. for 12 years until
1996.
Joining him as a partner in the acquisition is the Barat Education Foundation,
which had the right to pre-empt any sale to a private developer. The foundation
administers Barat's endowment and runs programs for alumni.
Newcastle Ltd. represented DePaul in the negotiations. S.L. van der Zanden,
managing principal of Newcastle,
said the property is zoned for single-family estate homes.
In a statement issued by DePaul, Lake Forest Mayor S. Michael Rummel praised
the deal. He said he expects Shaw's plan "will be sensitive to the issues
that are important to our community, including historic preservation, open space,
traffic volumes and high quality development."
-Paul Gerth
Where is John Galt?