“It’s one of the most extraordinary pieces of land on the North Shore,” said Brian Hoffman, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Northbrook-based Red Seal Development Corp.
He was referring to the property that straddles the Wilmette-Evanston border on Sheridan Road that recently was sold to the Baker Demonstration School by National-Louis University, which has had its North Shore campus there.
It’s a great thing for Baker, because school officials had worried what would happen when the university sold the coveted property, according to a story last week by Tribune reporter Trine Tsouderos.
Now it will have a home — and some lucky developer or developers will have possibly 8 acres on which to build houses. (Most of that is in Wilmette.)
Hoffman was responding to our inquiries about who those developers might be. Though he would not say that his company is pursuing the site, he said, “Red Seal is watching carefully.”
One company that would say that it is negotiating for the property is Orren Pickell Design & Builders, based in Lincolnshire.
“We are very interested. We are working with Baker School in the negotiation stage,” said Bart Kempff, vice president of development for Pickell.
Who wouldn’t want a chance to make money on one of the last sizable pieces of land near Lake Michigan on the North Shore? The houses would be expensive, but the site is so desirable, along Sheridan Road, that people with that kind of money might line up to live there.
We turned to the Baker School to see what kind of progress has been made on the residential front.
“We have been in conversations with developers, and we are not going to be sending out any RFPs,” or requests for proposals, said Bill Melsheimer, director of the school.
“We have had good conversations with a few folks — developers who are well known in the area and have a great deal of credibility and have been good sources,” Melsheimer continued.
How far along are they in talks? Far enough to involve Evanston and Wilmette.
“Yes, we have been in contact with both development departments,” Melsheimer said. “We’ve had some good and meaningful conversations with both departments.”
The acreage and its exact use is still up in the air.
“We’re trying to take a look at the potential footprint for the school. A couple of options are being considered,” Melsheimer continued. “We’re still in the process of sorting that out with ourselves and any developer.”
Pickell’s Kempff said his firm has a “favorable impression of the property. We have looked at it very closely and have talked with National-Louis, Baker and, most importantly, with Evanston and Wilmette. We feel pretty firmly that single-family homes will be the only use [beyond the school’s needs]. Possibly some higher density, zero-lot-line homes would benefit the community.”
What kind of development are we looking at then?
“Based on current zoning, which is R-1, if you take into account what Baker School takes up, you’re looking at 14 to 18 single-family home sites on the remaining property, each being 9,000-square-foot lots, a little less than a quarter acre,” Kempff said.
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What size homes?
“You’re looking at 3,600 square feet, 5,000 if you finish the basement,” Kempff continued.
“$2 million would be a very appropriate number [for the cost of the land and home together],” he said. “When you look down the road to when they will be unveiled, fall of 2006 when construction would start . . . they’d be in the low $2 million range.”
The property is north of Isabella and west of Sheridan. “We liked it because of how close it is to Northwestern, the Baha’i Temple, Peter Jans golf course, Metra and three or four blocks from the lake and Wilmette Harbor.”
One loan for purchase, rehab
ShoreBank and the Northern Illinois Energy Project are offering what they say is the first energy-efficient home rehab mortgage program in Illinois, aimed at helping South and West Side home buyers and owners incorporate energy-efficient products and materials into their home improvements. (The Energy Project is a joint initiative of the Citizens Utility Board, the City of Chicago and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
The Chicago-based bank’s mortgage combines purchase and rehab funds in one loan, with the bank typically providing 100 percent financing for the rehab amount.
The program includes an energy consultation with a review of how much repairs will cut utility bills and will cost to incorporate into the home.
Homeowners and developers of single-family and up to four-unit buildings on the South and West Sides are eligible if the project includes a rehab component of at least $5,000.
For more information, call ShoreBank at 773-420-4663.
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Wayne Faulkner is editor of Real Estate. You can contact him at [email protected] or write him at baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.