Rolling Meadows acquires 'raccoon house' to sell to developer

Residents in a Rolling Meadows neighborhood have taken to calling the building at 4405 Sycamore Lane a "raccoon house," since its last human inhabitants left the property seven years ago.

Soon, though, the residents could be getting some real neighbors, now that the city has acquired the house and plans to sell it to a developer to rehab or replace.

The city council Tuesday signed off on a contract to sell the property on the city's southwest side to GAN C, LLC, for $28,500. Last week, the city acquired the judicial deed for the property as part of court proceedings that began almost a year ago.

"We're selling it to a contractor who is going to make it family-ready, and not a family of raccoons," said Alderman John D'Astice, whose Ward 6 includes the property. "It's going to be a habitable house again soon."

The two-story house, in an enclave just east of Route 53 and north of Algonquin Road, has been vacant since February 2010 when its previous owners left, both of whom filed for bankruptcy, according to City Attorney Jim Macholl.

The property has been foreclosed upon twice, but the most recent lender didn't take possession of the property, Macholl said. That prompted the city to file suit in Cook County circuit court to acquire the abandoned property, which was behind in taxes and facing building code violations.

Neighbors say the house has had broken windows and doors, and raccoons, birds and other critters going in and out over the years.

D'Astice said the property never became a health hazard, but the city has had to cut the grass and trim the bushes.

GAN C, LLC, which acquires, rehabs and sells properties, purchased the property's 2015 real estate taxes at a tax sale. Proceeds from the property sale will allow the city to recoup its attorney fees and other costs, Macholl said.

"The idea being someone would come in, do the purchase, do the rehab and restore it to a single-family home with people actually residing in it, for the benefit of the entire neighborhood," Macholl said.