The Grand Boulevard business district in Brookfield may be in store for another ambitious development plan after the village finalizes the sale of property it owns in the 8900 block of Fairview Avenue.
Burzak Investment Group, pending village board approval in two weeks, will shell out $324,000 for the land at 8932-36 Fairview Ave., giving them a 200-foot frontage along that street. The company already owns parcels at 8922 and 8928 Fairview Ave.
The land brought double what it was appraised for two years ago. In 2002, the village sought an appraisal after being approached about the construction of a parking lot on the site. At that time, a real estate appraisal firm estimated the land was worth $105,000 if the parking lot were built and $150,000 for residential development. The property is located in the village’s C-3 central business district.
David Hrizak, one of the principals of the company, said Monday night that a previous plan to erect a mixed-use commercial/residential building on the site was still on the drawing board, but that “since the master plan was adopted, we’re open to suggestions. We want to work with Brookfield, not against it.”
Hrizak’s company outbid seven others for the property, including Rende Realty of Brookfield, which is in the process of completing construction on an office/apartment building at 3700 Prairie Ave.; Prairie Investment Group, which developed the Brookfield Terrace condos just a block east of the Fairview site on Brookfield Avenue; Steven Campbell, whose bid to build townhomes across the alley from the Fairview site ran afoul of the Zoning Board of Appeals recently; Mark Gaber, who owns property on the 8900 block of Fairview Avenue; Preco Development Corp., a Chicago-based developer; and two others.
The low bid for the property was $93,000 from Preco Development, while Burzak Investment Group’s bid was $74,000 higher than Prairie Investment Group’s.
“The development we will bring to the Brookfield village board in the near future will increase every resident’s property value as well as quality of life,” Hrizak wrote in a statement he distributed Monday night. “We look forward to working with the village to place Brookfield in the upper echelon of the western suburbs.”
The village has owned the land at 8932-36 Fairview Ave. for approximately 15 years. Previously a residential property, the village acquired it because of its strategic location in the Grand Boulevard Business District. A house that formerly occupied the site was demolished by the village years ago.
