It has been eight years when Oak Forest bought 2-acad land with a closed ace hardware and an empty space. Last week, the city posted a video that showed the beginning of the demolition of the building, behind the schedule nearly a decade.
“This venture by the city was a major step in the right direction,” said the city’s administrator Timothy Christin.
He explained that there is a lot of delays that have deteriorated a deal and hoped what this first step means for the community. When the city bought the building in 2016, the deal was less than just one half million dollars, of which $ 85,000 would be provided by the Mac Company, investing in a developer project.
But fell through the agreement, forced to a legal battle that resulted in the building 155th and South Sicroeful. Years later, the city bought the rest of the building from the bank back to $ 130,000, explaining by Christin.
Christin said, “The developer did not fulfill his obligations by the RDA as required.”
Oak Forest Ace outside Hardware 155th and South Sicro on February 23. The city wants to see something new built on the site. (Hank Sanders/Daily Southtown)
While trying to find a new developer, Christin said that there was a discussion with various groups but the interest evaporated as the current ACE hardware building conditions were so poor, which included asbestos and a collapse roof.
But it also worked in favor of the city, Christin said, because Oak forest leaders wanted to get rid of the building for a long time to reduce the urban blast and start a new development. Oak Forest decided to start tears last week.
“This building was actually a poster child for urban blight,” he said.
Christine said that the goal for development is the same: mixed residential and transit -oriented retail on the block. But it still rests on a system with a developer.
The timeline for development is also not clear. Christin stated that many factors determine the timeline of a project, such as ups and downs in the cost of economy, materials and interest rates.
“I am carefully optimistic that it is going to move forward,” he said. “One thing that I have learned is that you can’t really put a timeline on it.”
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