Looking for a school office? Mundelein District 75 asking $675,000
After an auction failed to draw interest, Mundelein Elementary District 75 has listed its downtown headquarters with a real-estate broker.
The building at 470 N. Lake St. with a 35-space parking lot is listed for $675,000. It's being offered as the district prepares to consolidate with the administrative staff of Mundelein High School District 120 at the converted Kirk of the Lakes Presbyterian Church, 1500 W. Hawley St.
District 75 essentially has until the end of the current school year to move as part of a broader initiative announced in May.
In June 2019, District 75 chief Andy Henrikson will retire and District 120 Superintendent Kevin Myers will take over as head of both districts.
District 120 bought the former church property on the west side of the Mundelein High School campus in 2016 and converted it to a combination district office, professional development center and practice gym for athletics.
"If this (470 N. Lake St.) property sells earlier, we'll be ready to move earlier," Henrikson said.
District 75 officials in February authorized an appraisal of its longtime administrative office on the southwest corner of Lake Street and Park Street. Henrikson said the property was offered at auction but no bids arrived.
The school board on Aug. 6 approved a contract with ReMax Showcase to represent the sale. The broker is Luis Fuentes, described by District 75 as "a well-known Mundelein philanthropist."
"He's always been a very big supporter of anything we've done so he's a natural," Henrikson said.
Fuentes said possibilities for the property include a restaurant or a mixed-use to include multiple businesses. While there is nothing solid, one showing was to a well-known restaurateur checking the possibility of expanding his business, he said.
Limited parking at the site is a consideration.
"The person who comes in to purchase the building has to have a lot of creativity but there are a lot of possibilities," Fuentes said.
The building was constructed in 1891 as a general store called Newton & Co. and since has been altered and expanded. It also was used as a barbershop, apartments and library. The district bought it in 2001 when the Fremont Public Library moved to 1170 N. Midlothian Road.
No specific use is being suggested, but the village has included renderings of what the school building could be as part of its general marketing of available properties.
"We are trying to create vision for people. We call them opportunity sites," said Dawn Jenich, communications manager. "What the planners will do is show people the potential of what a particular site might be."
The contract calls for 3.5 percent of the sales price to go to the listing office and 2.5 percent to the selling office.
Henrikson said he hopes the district's cut could be used for a stage at Carl Sandburg Middle School, which does not have one.
"The success of last year's first middle school musical, performed on the little stage at Lincoln Early Childhood Center, made it evident that a stage at Sandburg would offer tremendous learning opportunities to our students," he said in a statement announcing the building sale.