From left: Daniel Hildebrand, Jeffrey Laytin and Special Master Karim Mahmoud in front of 42 and 44-46 East Superior Street (Google Maps, Hadef Partners, Property Development, LinkedIn/Jeffrey Laytin)
More than a year after reaching a settlement to return $30 million to Chinese investors in a long-stalled Chicago hotel-condo tower project, New York-based Symmetry Property Development hasn’t paid them a dime.
Now, the company, its managing partner, Jeffrey Laytin, and attorneys are being investigated by a Dubai-based investigator appointed by a federal judge.
The investigator, Karim Mahmoud, a registered attorney in New York, was assigned as a special master at a Wednesday hearing in Illinois federal court to determine whether Symmetry or its counsel, led by Chicago-based Daniel Hildebrand, lied to the court about having the funds to repay the Chinese investors.
This week’s hearing in the international dispute was the latest complication in the stalled River North project that’s proposed for the northeast corner of Wabash Avenue and Superior Street.
Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward was opposed to the 60-story plan, which would have demolished rowhouses at 42 and 44-46 East Superior, and the development team failed to receive permits from the city to move the project forward. After the lawsuit was filed by the foreign investors who used the EB-5 visa program to help fund the project, the rowhouses received landmark status from the city and can’t…
