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DuPage could sell vacant parcel along Naperville Road

DuPage officials are trying to decide what to do with land the county has owned for nearly two decades at the confluence of Naperville Road, Warrenville Road and I-88 near Naperville and Lisle.

The county in 2001 spent $3.75 million to buy a small office building on the west side of Naperville Road, between I-88 and Warrenville Road. At the time, the county planned to use the 1.7 acres for a proposed reconfiguration of the intersection of Naperville and Warrenville roads.

But several years after DuPage acquired the site, plans for the intersection were scaled back. The county ended up using the building until it was demolished about two years ago.

"The only thing that's there now is the property," said Christopher Snyder, director of transportation. "And it's really isolated."

On Tuesday, members of the county board's transportation committee started talking about the property's future.

If DuPage decides to sell the land, it's likely it will lose money because the property's value has fallen significantly.

"The last time we appraised it in 2018, it was $1.5 million," Snyder said.

The parcel is immediately north of a maintenance facility owned by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, so DuPage could ask the agency if it's interested in buying the site.

Another option could be to sell the property on the open market.

Committee members said they'll delay any decision until getting an updated appraisal.

Don Puchalski, transportation committee chairman, said he doubts the county will make back the money it spent.

"We bought it for a very high amount of money," he said. "We're having an issue with what we're going to do with it."

Snyder said the property was purchased at the height of the market. At one point, its value dropped to less than $1 million.

"The fact that we were at $1.5 million in 2018 was a nice uptick," he said.

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