The Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education has approved the sale of a former maintenance building the district owns at 541 Madison St. The deal also means some district students stand to receive scholarships.
D97 school board members unanimously approved an agreement with TLC 541 Madison LLC at a Sept. 12 regular board meeting. TLC agreed to buy the building for $820,000 — around $20,000 more than the building was appraised for as of July — and to provide one D97 student with a $3,000 scholarship each year for four academic years.
Recipients of the scholarships will be selected through an application process that will be agreed upon by both D97 and TLC.
After the school board approved the purchase earlier this month, a 60-day due diligence period went into effect. Both sides are expected to close the sale within 30 days after the due diligence period ends.
When the former maintenance building is vacated, the district will combine its warehouse operations into the Oak Park Public Works facility at 201 South Blvd.
In April, the school board approved an agreement with another company to sell the building for $805,000, but the company withdrew its offer, officials said. The building was then re-listed soon after the withdrawal, with at least two other developers making offers to purchase the building this summer.
One was Aetna Development, which develops small and mid-size shopping centers, including Dollar Tree and Walgreen stores. The other was Brand and Company, which redeveloped the long-vacant LaMajada restaurant building on Harrison Street in the Arts District.
Correction: This article has bee updated to reflect that the district has not officially moved out of its old maintenance building yet. Wednesday Journal regrets the error.
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com