The downturn in the economy has resulted in several vacant parcels of land in Lake Forest, including the former site of the city’s Municipal Services Building at Laurel and Western avenues. Once the building was demolished, the city intended to sell the property to a developer. However, the lagging real estate market has put an indefinite delay in those plans. “The activity level and interest level for something to be developed immediately is not the case,” Third Ward Alderman Don Schoenheider explained during his ward’s annual meeting Monday night. Third Ward residents gathered in the new …
Former Barat College Houses City's Biggest Building, But Sits On Bank-Owned Property to be Developed
Within the next two weeks, a For Sale sign will go up in front of the former Barat College property in Lake Forest with contact information for interested developers. Still standing and in view behind the wire fence that now borders the front entrance is the college’s original centerpiece building. According to Cathy Czerniak, director of community development for Lake Forest, the building is the biggest in the city with 180,00 square feet of space, but is over 100 years old. “What do you do with this building?” she asked in terms of the land’s marketability for residential development. The …
