Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to play What Should Go Here?: Grant Park Commercial Edition. First, the location: Three commercially zoned lots on the corner of Boulevard and McDonald Street, one block from Memorial Drive and the corner of Oakland Cemetery. The lot dimensions are 87 by 103, so 8,961 square feet, or about 0.2 acres. Next, the price: Last sold for $150,000 in 2005, the three adjoining vacant lots went on the market three months ago for $500,000 and were just reduced to $475,000. Records don't show any listings in between 2005 and 2014, but a walk through the past via Google Street View's history feature shows that the same sad "For Lease" sign has hung on the fence since at least mid-2011.
With a five percent price cut and a "For Lease" sign that's been in place for at least three years, it doesn't take a sleuth to figure out that these lots have a selling problem, but why? It's a high-traffic street near a major interstate and the lots themselves have great visibility. Is the area not hot enough to support the $475,000 price tag? Or has the right buyer just not come along? And the biggest question of all is: What sort of commercial endeavor should go here? Grant Park could certainly use more retail and restaurants, but what would truly work and be embraced by the neighborhood?
· 314 Boulevard [Zillow]