The city of Joliet owes $15 million to the owners of a low-income housing complex that was condemned as blighted property, a federal jury has found.

The 12-member jury returned the verdict Tuesday following a trial on the fair market value of Evergreen Terrace.

The city contended the complex is worth $14.3 million, while the owners set its value at $22.3 million. The figure reached by the jury — $15,077,406 — is about 5 percent more than the amount set by the city.

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle entered judgment on the verdict.

The trial on the compensation owed to the complex’s owners was the latest phase in a legal battle that began 10 years ago.

In 2005, Joliet filed an action for eminent domain in Will County Circuit Court alleging Evergreen Terrace was blighted.

The city said it wanted to replace the 356-unit complex with other affordable housing and a park.

Evergreen Terrace’s owners opposed the action, contending the allegation of blight was an excuse to discriminate against black people in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

The owners include the limited partnerships of New West and New Bluff and Ralph W. and Ronald J. Gidwitz. Ronald Gidwitz unsuccessfully ran for Illinois governor as a Republican in the 2006 primary.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development later intervened in the case and removed it to federal court. Some residents also intervened.

Like Evergreen Terrace’s owners, HUD and the intervening residents contended that condemning the complex would violate housing law.

A bench trial before Norgle on the condemnation request began in 2012.

In November 2013, Joliet and HUD reached an out-of-court settlement that called for HUD to drop its opposition to the city’s plan to redevelop the property.

The settlement also called for HUD to restore millions of dollars in federal grants.

And the settlement required Joliet — assuming it succeeded in condemning or otherwise acquiring Evergreen Terrace — to provide affording housing within the city limits for any resident it displaced.

In January 2014, Joliet and the four tenants who remained as parties in the case reached a separate settlement.

The trial before Norgle, minus HUD and the tenants, concluded four months later. It had taken up 99 days and generated more than 19,000 pages of transcripts.

Norgle returned his verdict in September 2014, rejecting the challenges to eminent domain raised by Evergreen Terrace’s owners.

The judge held Joliet’s conclusion that the property was blighted was supported by numerous reports of crime and unsanitary and hazardous conditions.

Norgle also held that Evergreen Terrace’s owners failed to improve conditions despite receiving millions of dollars in grants.

And he held there was no credible evidence that Joliet’s condemnation of the property was motivated by bias.

The jury trial on the compensation owed the owners began last week.

The case is City of Joliet v. Mid-City National Bank of Chicago, et al., No. 05 C 6746.

James R. Figliulo, Peter A. Silverman and Carl A. Gigante, all of Figliulo & Silverman P.C., tried the case for the city.

“It’s been a long road, and the city of Joliet and its counsel are very pleased with the jury’s decision,” Figliulo said.

Evergreen Terrace’s owners were represented at trial by Theodore R. Tetzlaff, James D. Benak and Charlotte M. Huffman, all of Tetzlaff Law Offices LLC.

Tetzlaff said the owners will appeal Joliet’s taking of their property.