Friday, July 3, 2009

On The Market

The former Tom Seay Salvation Army Center at Broadway and Sunnyside is officially on the market. We spotted a FOR SALE sign for the building & lot with a contact number of 312-297-7635.
This is a beautiful building. How about some market-rate RENTALS above and a coffee shop or restaurant below? We can dream.

5 comments:

  1. I would hope this empty building would get turned into a useful structure but I think it will be vacant for a long time as our city continues in it downward motion.

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  2. I vote for..
    A. A Homeless Shelter
    B. Methadone Clinic
    C. Section 8 housing
    D. The American "Reinvestment" Act's Chicago Headquarters.
    E. The New 23rd District Police station to deal with all the criminals set to embark on Wilson Yard.

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  3. This was the site of the former Salvation Army's men's shelter. For years there were many complaints about how poorly it was managed.

    It closed down because after many years of operating, it was discovered that it wasn't zoned for that site. I would have to think Helen knew about it all along. Once it closed down. loitering and public drinking in the area dropped dramatically. If business is doing better in that area as Denise claims, it's only because that shelter is closed down.

    Every year around this time, Helen goes on a vacation (I mean business trip) to Las Vegas to learn about promoting retail. We pay for it. I wonder if she ever implemented anything from these fact-filled vacations? God, I wish the Inspector General could investigate aldermen.

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  4. I am sure our honorable and prestigious alderman "Hell"en Shiller has great plans for that site already. Maybe a museum to her wonderful legacy of revitalizing Uptown back into the Premier neighborhood it once was, or prerhaps some much needed subsidized low to extremely low income housing and rehabb center (you know we don't have enough of that in our ward)or maybe just maybe she will have learned something from her fact finding trip to Las Vegas and will develop it into a new Wilson Mall just like the one at the Wilson El stop (that would be so awesome!). Lets use TIF money to fund the development of this building!

    It is truley sad that Uptown's potential is not being met. Broadway could have been developed into a great reatail and residential corridor. We could have had name brand stores (Gap, Aldo, Bebe, etc.), unique botique mid to high end stores, restaurants, wine bars, martini bars, etc. but instead we have the newest Cabrini Green housing project going in so that the criminal element will have 450K condos to live in and conduct their business. What retailer would want to invest money in a neighborhood where the alderman is bent on catering to the homeless, low income on a high scale, and the criminal element? None, as is the answer as we see.

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