The city council approved using tax increment financing in 1992, says John Molloy of the Department of Planning and Development. However, six parcels remain vacant or underused, he adds. The city owns property at 4550 S. Racine Ave., Molloy explains, and is looking to assemble surrounding irregularly-shaped lots.
Acquisition authority gives the department a green light to order appraisals, issue a request for proposals as well as explore potential environmental issues, Molloy says. "We suspect environmental issues, which is typical of old railroad properties," he says.
Wheeler Trailer owns property on the odd side of the 4600 block of South Racine Avenue while Unichema North America has property on the even side, according to property records.
About a half-mile north, the city is looking for a developer to rehab the vacant 81-year-old Livestock National Bank building at 4150 S. Halsted St., at the gateway to the Stockyards Industrial Corridor. Responses to a request for proposals are due next late next month for the city-owned 25,600-sf concrete and masonry building. Its design, by A. Epstein and Sons, was inspired by Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
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