A Chicago-based real estate agent is optimistic about development prospects for a retail strip that has a history of neglect and delinquency.
The Village Board on Monday approved a deal that gives Baum Realty four months to find a buyer for the Norwood Square Shopping Center at 26th Street and Western Avenue.
If a deal is made, Baum would receive $120,000 in commission, said Village President John Ostenburg. “If they can’t do that, there is no cost to the village,” he said.
The village acquired Norwood Square at no cost in 1997 after a former owner left the property in deteriorated condition, and with $5 million in unpaid taxes, Ostenburg said.
Norwood Square was once a thriving retail zone, but it ultimately was left without an anchor and little prospects for the future, he said.
The village received a $100,000 grant from the Housing and Urban Development department to demolish the strip, which has about 140,000 square feet of retail space.
The village will hold off on demolition to give the real estate agent time to market the property.