Roof with a view: Building, Cubs settle

April 9, 2004

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

The Cubs won't be using Broadway-style theatrics after all to block the third-base line view from a recalcitrant rooftop club, thanks to a surprise agreement umpired Thursday by a federal judge.

Instead of granting Skybox on Waveland's request to prohibit the Cubs from blocking the view from its rooftop at 1038 W. Waveland, U.S. District Judge James Holderman stepped up to the plate and hit the equivalent of a walk-off home run.

He summoned both sides to his chambers and brokered a settlement that had eluded the warring parties for years.

Holderman swore both sides to secrecy, so it's not clear whether Skybox on Waveland will be paying less than the 17 percent of gross revenues agreed to by a dozen other rooftop clubs cashing in on their bird's-eye view of Wrigley Field.

But one thing is certain. Monday's Cubs home opener will be free of a rooftop controversy. There will be no sequel to the windscreen saga that served as an ugly subplot to the Cubs' 2002 season.

"Now we can just focus on baseball with no other potential distractions. The focus will be on the game on the field, which is where the focus should be," said Cubs President Andy MacPhail.

"We're pleased to have added a new partner. We've always stated that a negotiated settlement is preferable to litigation."

Jonathan Arnold, one of four owners of Skybox on Waveland, said it was a "long and hard-fought battle," but he is "ecstatic" with the extra-inning outcome.

"I always believed the threat to block us was a bluff. It's just not feasible for them to have done it between landmarking and their commitment to the other rooftops to preserve their views," Arnold said.

"However, we entered into a settlement we are delighted to have with the Cubs because it protects the interests of our customers who are no longer fearful of being blocked, however misguided that fear may have been."

Arnold isn't the only one who's relieved. So are the owners of a dozen other rooftop clubs, who agreed to share their profits with the Cubs months ago.

"I would have been upset if they did not have to pay," said George Loukas, chairman of the Wrigleyville Rooftop Owners Association and the owner of clubs at 1032 W. Waveland and 3643 N. Sheffield.

"Now everyone is on the same page. The Cubs are going to help us market our operations. Everyone is in a happy and festive mood right now. There's harmony in Wrigleyville."

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), added: "Now we can focus on baseball and a winning team. If people are out there looking at the club and worried about the entertainment happening in the outfield, it takes away from people enjoying the game."

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that the Cubs had hired lighting and scenery experts to devise a way to block the view from Skybox on Waveland without interfering with the view from a dozen other rooftops now playing ball by paying the Cubs 17 percent of their gross revenues.

Since then, the Cubs have erected a scaffold and tested snakelike obstructions that block the club's view of home plate.

Throughout the negotiations, Skybox on Waveland insisted it was entitled to a special deal because it spent millions rebuilding an elaborate three-flat made of concrete and steel, complete with hardwood floors, a built-in elevator and a rooftop bleacher system that seats 120.

Even so, Tunney said he assumes the deal hammered out Thursday is similar to the other 12.

"I told them, 'I don't see what your difference is. Each one has costs associated with acquisition, rehab and making it the safe place that it needs to be,' " Tunney said.