Real Estate Listings

River Forest Women’s Club

River Forest

Built by longtime Frank Lloyd Wright associate William Drummond in 1914, the River Forest Women’s Club was once a candidate for demolition. The current owners purchased the property in 2005 and have meticulously rehabilitated it as a private home. The restoration of the 5,200 square foot building is protected by a preservation easement including its large 2-story theater space and stage. To preserve the large interior, most living spaces were placed in the basement level with a new below-grade patio and entrance constructed on the rear of the property. The building was rehabilitated with a comprehensive geothermal heating and cooling system that reduced energy usage by 75% during the first winter. The building also makes use of solar water heating units.

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Sloane House

Elmhurst

The Sloane House, located on Arlington Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois, is an outstanding example of Prairie School architecture. It was designed in 1909 by Walter Burley Griffin for William B. and Jennette R. Sloane. The house is also an example of what Griffin scholar Paul Sprague has called Griffin’s “first style,” which typically have light colored stucco walls with dark horizontal and vertical boards, casement windows grouped horizontally as well as a relatively steeply pitched roof. For the past 30+ years, the home has been owned by the same family, who recently donated a preservation easement to Landmarks Illinois in order to protect the property. Listing for this property can be found through Tom Makinney of @properties.

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City-Owned Historic Buildings For Sale

Chicago

The City of Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development (HED) listing of city-owned historic properties available for acquisition. For more information, contact Cindy Roubik at (312) 744-3038.

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Adler Estate

Libertyville

This 1918 estate, which includes a main house and coach house, was designed by architect David Adler. The estate has no landmark protection and is vulnerable as a tear-down sale. However, the Libertyville Historic Preservation Commission would be willing to evaluate it for local landmark designation, which could enable a buyer to utilize the property tax assessment freeze as part of a qualified rehabilitation.

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Chicago Baptist Institute

5120 S. King Drive, Chicago

Designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, architects of Chicago Cultural Center and Art Institute of Chicago, in 1898 for the Chicago Orphan Asylum Building, the Colonial Revival-style building has housed the Chicago Baptist Institute since 1957. The building was home to the Parkway Community Foundation, a noted Bronzeville community and arts center, in the 1940s and 1950s. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2009.

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1711 Devonshire

Lake Forest

This Keck and Keck-designed mid-century home for sale has no landmark protection and could be targeted as a tear-down. According to a recent article by the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation, the 1950s-era Fagen/McMahon house is “arguably one of Lake Forest’s most architecturally significant examples of mid-century modern design.”

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Maywood Home for Soldiers’ Widows

224 N. First Ave., Maywood

The Village of Maywood is seeking a developer/buyer to rehabilitate and reuse this historic 1924 Georgian Revival-style structure on a prime corner for redevelopment. Originally designed for Civil War soldiers’ widows and vacant since 2003, this building was included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2012 Most Endangered Historic Places in Ilinois list. Landmarks Illinois recently completed a reuse study for the building that recommends its redevelopment with adjacent village-owned vacant land. For more information, contact assistant village manager David Myers at (708) 450-6301.

U.S. Marine Hospital

1304 Park Avenue, Galena

Listed on Landmarks Illinois’ 2014 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois, the U.S. Marine Hospital is for sale as part of eleven acres of land in Galena. Constructed in 1859 as part of a nationally significant federal health care initiative for United States sailors, this is one of only two pre-Civil War marine hospitals remaining on the inland waterway system. The other is in Kentucky and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

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Union Station Power House

Chicago

Amtrak is accepting Request for Proposals for a qualified third-party developer to rehabilitate and reuse the Chicago Union Station Power House. A developer must have demonstrated experience redeveloping historic buildings in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, according to Amtrak. Proposals for demolition and redevelopment of the site will not be considered. The Power House has been vacant since 2011, and Amtrak later announced plans to demolish the historic site. However, through a regulatory review process called Section 106, the preservation community proposed the structure be marketed for reuse.

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Mineola Hotel

91 N. Cora, Fox Lake

The owners listed the hotel and surrounding 17 acres of lakefront property on eBay for $2 million. The wood frame building was built in 1884 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It was a weekend getaway for Al Capone and other gangsters. It is located half way between Chicago and Milwaukee, thirty miles west of Lake Michigan.

• Chicago Tribune Article

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Bresee Tower

4 N Vermilion St., Danville

Downtown Danville, Inc., the City of Danville and Vermilion County are seeking developers interested in reusing this 1918, 12-story building designed by Mundie and Jensen. Bresee Tower is located in a TIF district and in an Enterprise Zone and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Inquiries or proposals may be sent for review to: Dana Schaumburg, Executive Director, Downtown Danville, Inc., 149 N. Vermilion St., Danville, IL 61832, (217) 443-3886; Linda Bolton, Director of Business Development, Vermilion Advantage, 28 W North St., Danville, IL 61832, (217) 442-6201; or John Dreher, Community Development Manager, City of Danville, 17 W Main St., Danville, IL 61832, (217) 431-2329.

• News-Gazette, September 9, 2012

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Western Military Academy

2009 Seminary Road, Alton

This former military academy campus in Alton’s Upper Alton Historic District retains the original 1903 Administration Building. A grassroots group, Save Western, is working to find an appropriate owner and reuse for the campus and its original buildings.

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949 Fisher Lane, Winnetka

Modern residence in Winnetka includes five serene second floor bedrooms, two maids rooms and third floor roof terraces. Unaltered & in its original condition, this historic and one-of-a-kind residence is unprotected and a potential teardown target.

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Central Manufacturing District Warehouses

Chicago

In partnership with Reinventing Cities, the City of Chicago is sponsoring a design and reuse competition for two city-owned, former WWI U.S. Quartermasters Depot buildings on Pershing Road in the Central Manufacturing District (CMD) in the McKinley Park neighborhood.

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802 Lake

Wilmette

Italianate-style home built about 1868-1870 for Amelia Boggs Burroughs Glidden, by Absalom Gedney. It is thought to be one of the oldest homes in Wilmette, but is currently unprotected. With a local landmark designation, one could utilize the property tax assessment freeze with a qualified rehabilitation.

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