The home at 3507 Arden Ave. owned by the Brookfield Public Library is worth $300,000, according to a new appraisal the library ordered. The library bought the home in 2007 for $400,000 after receiving an appraisal at that time. The home is currently vacant.
Last month the library evicted the couple who had rented the home for the last two years. According to bills the library board approved at its December meeting, the library paid a lawyer $1,605 to handle the court case that led to the tenants vacating the home under threat of eviction.
The Landmark filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain copies of the both recent appraisal and the appraisal that the library commissioned in 2007.
Both appraisals were done by Steven J. Zawaski of Zawaski and Zawaski in Western Springs. The recent appraisal is dated Dec. 15 and cost the library $350 to complete.
The library board met in closed session to discuss real estate matters at its December meeting. At that meeting it is believed that the board received the most recent appraisal, and discussed what to do with the Arden home.
“Real estate was discussed in closed session, and that’s all I can say,” said Brookfield Library board President Dianne Duner.
The library board is apparently considering whether to seek new tenants for the home or to try and sell it.
According to most recent appraisal, the home is in “average to fair condition with numerous items of deferred maintenance.” The appraisal states that the hardwood floor in the kitchen is separating and that there is ceiling damage in the second-floor hallway. Walls on the second floor need patching and there has been past water damage to the basement.
The library bought the home in 2007 as part of a plan to buy five homes, tear them all down and build a new library at the corner of Washington and Arden. But the plan fell apart when an owner of one of the targeted homes refused to sell.
