Winfield buys house for downtown redevelopment

Winfield will spend $250,000 to purchase a house in downtown with an eye toward eventually razing the building and redeveloping the lot.

Village Manager Curt Barrett said officials will use money from its downtown tax increment financing district to buy the property at 27W384 Jewell Road, just northeast of village hall.

Officials have been in negotiations with the lot’s owner, George Havlicek, for about three months. An October appraisal placed its value at $215,000 but Havlicek had paid $280,000 for it in 2007. The final price was a compromise.

The 10,676-square-foot lot fronts both High Lake and Jewell roads.

“What we are getting at is one of the key redevelopment areas identified in the plan for downtown,” Barrett said. “The location is excellent between the train station and (Central DuPage) hospital campus. We are working toward assembling a larger area that would be more appealing for redevelopment.”

The village will serve as landlord to a family that currently rents the home until it comes time to start development, Barrett said.

The money will come from the 48-acre downtown TIF district, which Barrett said annually pumps about $250,000 into village coffers. Any money earned in a TIF district must be reinvested within the same district.

“It is keeping with the intent of those TIF funds; it’s what they are meant to do, to spur redevelopment,” Barrett said.

The sale ends a 30-plus year span during which the home belonged in Havlicek’s family. His sister-in-law’s parents owned the home until they died in 2007.

Havlicek bought the property, hoping to convert it into a commercial site. However, the down economy stopped that and forced him to rent the home.

“I never wanted to be a landlord,” he said. “So I put a ‘For Sale’ sign on it.”

Havlicek said the reality of the market made the loss on the home easier to swallow. As a longtime area resident, he said he was excited to see the downtown plan pan out.

“I have looked at the plans and it looks fantastic,” he said. “I hope it’s advantageous for some developer to come along. It would be great for Winfield.”

Barrett said he can’t speculate when development at the site may begin. In the past, however, officials said they hope within six years to redevelop Town Center, which extends from the DuPage River on the west to the corner of Jewell and High Lake roads on the east and north along Winfield Road to Central DuPage Hospital and south past the rail line to Beecher Avenue.

Barrett said the village inspected the property before agreeing to the purchase. The village board could approve the purchase when they meet Feb. 17.