Schaumburg to demolish house for new business

Schaumburg officials are preparing to take possession of and demolish a single-family home the village purchased in 2008 to redevelop the site as commercial property.

The seven-year delay in taking action on the approximately 60-year-old house at 35 E. Schaumburg Road had nothing to do with the recession, however.

Rather, the village made a deal with the house's original owner allowing her to continue living there until she was no longer able.

Village officials recently were contacted by a nephew of the elderly resident with news that she is moving out of the home in the Olde Schaumburg Centre historic district.

Schaumburg plans to take possession within the next 30 days and demolish it soon after - certainly before there will be any need for snow removal on the half-acre site, Village Manager Brian Townsend said.

Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said the potential uses for the site haven't changed much since the village bought the home with $590,000 of funding from the same tax-increment financing district that developed Town Square just across Roselle Road.

Whether the site is developed for offices or retail uses, the village expects the building to share the same architectural style as the rest of the surrounding historic district, Fitzgerald said. Many of the older houses around the intersection of Schaumburg and Roselle roads have long since been converted to commercial use.

The relatively younger, single-story ranch at 35 E. Schaumburg Road doesn't really lend itself to such a commercial adaptation.

Because the TIF district in the area has expired, there are no restrictions on how the money made through the sale of the site to a developer may be used, Fitzgerald said.

But Trustee Tom Dailly said he prefers the money be earmarked for public projects in the Olde Schaumburg Centre. His fellow board members concurred.

The earliest such project will be the approximately $30,000 for the demolition of the house itself - of which about $5,000 is expected to go toward asbestos removal.