JDL Development Says Deal to Purchase Blake-Lamb Site is Imminent

CHICAGO- Developer JDL Properties is close to clinching a deal to buy the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home property near Washington Square, a spokesperson for the prolific Near-North side condo builder says.

“We really don’t want to talk about it [the Blake-Lamb purchase] because we feel that a deal is imminent,” says Ellen Nemirow, spokesperson for JDL CEO Jim Letchinger. Ms. Nemirow refused to provide further details.

Local brokers, however, say that the down zoning of the Washington Square area on the city’s Near North side has had a dramatic effect on the price at which the Blake-Lamb property will eventually be sold. Brokers Globest.com spoke to said that talk within the brokerage community is that the down zoning has cut the price Letchinger was willing to pay for Blake-Lamb, which is owned by SCI Service Corporation International of Houston, to $5 million from $10 million.