The long-term ownership of the land by a religious group could provide any new landlord with an advantage, Hanson adds. For fifty years, “it has not been on the tax rolls, so the village is very interested in seeing this property developed.” Village staff are already exploring the possible creation of a Tax Increment Financing district to help subsidize a redevelopment. “They really want to work with whoever buys the property.”

The seminary consists of a collection of small buildings constructed about 40 to 50 years ago. Hanson expects any buyer will want to demolish these structures and “start out with a clean slate.”

And “given the strong demographics and the site's location in the affluent west suburban marketplace, we expect strong interest from the development community.”

CHICAGO—The west suburban town of Lombard could soon see a major development take shape on a big chunk of green space in the heart of its retail district. The Northern Baptist Theological Seminary has owned and occupied the 27.5-acre site for about 60 years, but school officials plan on moving the campus to Lisle, and decided it was time to sell.

“For an infill suburban site, this is really large,” says James Hanson, a principal of Avison Young. The company has secured the exclusive listing for the property. Hanson and William Cohen, a senior vice president in the firm's Chicago office, are representing the owner.

Hanson says the campus, located at 660 Butterfield Rd., sits within the 30 million square foot East-West Corridor office submarket, the suburbs' largest, and a similarly dense retail submarket of 27 million square feet. “It's almost an urban node within the suburbs.”

He envisions a large-scale residential or mixed-use development, including residential, retail and office. The property has so much land that a corporation needing a new headquarters, perhaps, could create its own self-contained community with restaurants, fitness centers and walking trails.

The long-term ownership of the land by a religious group could provide any new landlord with an advantage, Hanson adds. For fifty years, “it has not been on the tax rolls, so the village is very interested in seeing this property developed.” Village staff are already exploring the possible creation of a Tax Increment Financing district to help subsidize a redevelopment. “They really want to work with whoever buys the property.”

The seminary consists of a collection of small buildings constructed about 40 to 50 years ago. Hanson expects any buyer will want to demolish these structures and “start out with a clean slate.”

And “given the strong demographics and the site's location in the affluent west suburban marketplace, we expect strong interest from the development community.”