Elgin marks deconversion of problem rental into single-family home

Nancy Schatzeder is supposed to close today on a four-bedroom, three-bath historic home on Elgin's east side.

But that didn't stop her from meeting her new neighbors Thursday at an open house to mark the reconversion of the 1871 Second Empire structure into a single-family home.

"It really is like a custom home," Schatzeder said of the 1,800-square-foot home at 327 DuPage St. "It's affordable ($255,000) and it's in a great area. Everything (downtown) is revitalized -- it makes me feel revitalized."

In May, with the help of city and heritage commission grants, J. B. Harris Construction began the project.

The Gifford Park Association also chipped in $1,800 to help restore the foundation of the home, which once belonged to a former Elgin alderman named John Murphy.

Murphy was one of the first people in town to own an automobile and is credited with inventing the motorized Elgin street sweeper, which is widely used by cities and villages across the nation.

Longtime residents of the area also were pleased to see Schatzeder moving in and the home's bad history swept away.

About 60 years ago, the home became a rental property that was divvied up into five units. Drug deals and gang members were common and one neighbor once estimated 30 people lived in the home, residents said.

Josh Harris, president of J.B. Harris, said his company has done more than 10 deconversions and this one was the most challenging. The inside was gutted and he had to figure out the original floor plan.

"You're taking apart more than 60 years of mismanagement and poor construction," he said. "There was a lot of bad karma with things going on here. This house has been very much gifted back to the neighborhood again."

Neighbors such as Dan Miller, past president of the Gifford Park Association, couldn't be happier.

"This home has been important to us for a long time. It's significant historically and architecturally," he said. "It is a godsend to us and our neighborhood to bring this once problem property back into single-family status."

Audrey and Chuck Behrens, who lived a block away since 1975, agreed.

"This is so exciting," Audrey Behrens said. "It's the most wonderful thing to have happened."

The deconversion program, in which incentives are doled out to convert multifamily and historic buildings back into their original single-family use, began in Elgin in the mid-1990s.

Assistant City Manager Sean Stegall said the city hopes to deconvert as many properties as it can, starting with the largest and most historic ones.

"Our ultimate goal is to deconvert every conversion back to its original use," he said. "The ripple effect in the community is difficult to quantify, but easy to understand."

In 2007, about 10 deconversions were completed and the city has made the program one of its top priorities for 2008.