I just read that the village of Oak Park, Il finally got its head out of its ass and sold the property at the corner of Chicago and Austin! Totally awesome, because this area does need some type of economic development and Oak Park, Il acts like the border area of Austin Ave, should have the shittest properties found in Oak Park, IL as a statement that this is where the border lies for Oak Park/Chicago, IL.
In this article it is stated that the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation assisted the RICA Properties LLC in getting this property, now I have no problem with that but if this Oak Park, Il group is supposedly in the business of “attracting and retaining business development” in Oak Park, IL then they are really doing a shit job. There are tons of “For Rent” or “For Lease” signs on commercial properties around the village of Oak Park, IL and the fact of the matter is when that they have the common sense just taking all day to put it to use.
The RICA group wants to come in redo the entire façade, put in a restaurant, and basically beautify and rejuvenate this area, so the idea that this location was empty for such a long time when groups like this are ready to come in and do the work the village is not willing to do (they rather build a pool) is just stupid. Hopefully the doors opened by the RICA group will create a flood or new development and jobs for this Austin-Oak Park, IL area, also fill in some of the vacant spaces within the vacant commercial properties within the village. Kudos to RICA and OPEDC, about time!
Inklebarger, Timothy (2016) “Village sells Chicago and Austin property for $425K” oakpark.com
http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/8-30-2016/Village-sells-Chicago-and-Austin–property-for-$425K/
Oak Park, IL blog 