It's Big

Big Clout.

Sun Times:

Willie Miles was sitting in on a meeting last year with Ald. Shirley Coleman and a real estate consultant, Tracy Williams, when Williams said something that stunned him.

Williams allegedly said she ran the 16th Ward -- not the alderman.

And the alderman didn't contradict Williams, saying instead that she and Williams were "best of friends."

The allegation comes in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday alleging a real estate scam and asking for at least $6 million from the alderman, Williams and others.

Big Plans:

Williams told Hill that if Hill would improve the land by building a shopping center on it, then Williams, Hill and the alderman could own and operate it together, the lawsuit alleges.

And here's another real estate story, this time in the suburbs. Let's call it the.....

BIG DIG.

Wilmette Life:

Burke wrote that Koy likely would have to make several changes to the land to build the structure. One legal requirement is to raise the building above the floodway, which would entail building it on a mound three to four feet high.

The fill would have to be compensated by digging a hole for runoff on a nearby property that would hold runoff in an amount 150 percent of the amount of the fill. The pit likely would have to be at least 4 acres in area, according to the memo.

Hmm....Big pit. Big footprint. Big eyesore. Big sinkhole? Big mistake.