May 25, 2026 – The Illinois Appellate Court has slammed the brakes on the multi-decade warfare between River North-based general contractor Pepper Construction Company and its subcontractor, Bourbon Marble of Buffalo Grove.
The roots of the conflict trace back to 2004, when the 102-unit luxury landmark embarked on an interior build-out of 96 residential condos. That work ground to a halt amid bitter disagreements in March 2007. Pepper Construction initially issued a backcharge to Bourbon Marble, demanding $36,312 to cover the estimated expense of correcting alleged deficiencies in the tile work.
Bourbon Marble aggressively countered, turning the tables in subsequent trials to win $671,819 in damages for unpaid contract work and unjust enrichment.
That reversal, however, was just the prelude. Because the underlying subcontract contained a standard “prevailing party” clause dictating that the loser pays the winner’s legal expenses, the attorney fee meter began spinning. By the time Bourbon Marble was locked in as the prevailing party, Pepper Construction owed $3.6 million just to cover its opponent’s legal bills.
After bouncing through four separate rounds of appeals, Pepper Construction tried to close the books on April 2, 2024, by wiring Bourbon Marble a lump sum of $4,283,621.04 to satisfy the core fees and accrued post-judgment interest.
- July 2022 Base Fees: $3,605,880.33
- October 2022 Extra Fees: $116,204.35
- Accrued 9% Interest: $561,536.36
- Total Wire Payout (April 2, 2024): $4,283,621.04
Rather than walking away with the multi-million-dollar windfall, Bourbon Marble served asset citations on Pepper Construction, hunting for an additional $717,000 in backdated interest while simultaneously filing a third fee petition demanding another $236,000 to cover the bills accumulated during the previous appeal.
The First District Appellate Court flatly rejected that final effort. Affirming the Cook County Circuit Court’s dismissal, Justice Sharon Oden-Johnson noted that because “prevailing party” status was completely up in the air during the multi-year appeal process, interest could not legally begin to accumulate prior to the trial court’s official July 2022 judgment.
With Pepper Construction’s wire transfer fully satisfying the active debt before the asset citations were served, the court ruled the case officially dead.
“At some point, all things must come to an end, including this litigation,” wrote Justice Oden-Johnson, validating the lower court’s refusal to entertain further claims.
Though the final twelve years of courtroom warfare were fought strictly between the two contractors, Palmolive Tower Condominiums, LLC remained pinned to the top of the case caption as the primary defendant due to the unique architecture of Illinois construction law.
When Bourbon Marble initially claimed it was being shorted, the subcontractor protected its financial stake by exercising its rights under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act, placing a formal cloud against the title of the real estate itself. While the condo association was eventually insulated via global settlements from having its property sold off to satisfy the debt, the building’s name anchored a 19-year legal war that outlasted the actual construction work by 14 years.
