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10/14/2014

The state has set a minimum bid of $3.8 million for a 24-acre industrial parcel on the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

The state of Illinois is getting ready to sell its only vacant property in Chicago: a 24-acre parcel on the Sanitary and Ship Canal that will play a cameo in the upcoming “Transformers 4” movie.

The state Department of Central Management Services hired Rick Levin & Associates Inc. to sell the property at 2900 S. Damen Ave. in an online auction Nov. 2 through Nov. 7. The site just north of Interstate 55 includes several abandoned silos and was used as a movie set last September, when Transformers crews filmed explosions there.

The property is in an industrial area and sits just west of the former Chicago Sun-Times printing plant, which is being converted into a data center. An industrial use “would certainly seem logical” for the site, though retail is a possibility too, said Rick Levin, president of the Chicago-based auction house.

“A lot if it is going to depend on what the city of Chicago says a buyer can do,” he said. “You can't miss it. That site is quite visible.”

Levin tried to auction the property in 2007 and received interest from barge and transportation companies, Mr. Levin said. But no buyer was willing to pay the state's minimum bid of $17.3 million.

Seven years and one real estate crash later, the new minimum bid is $3.8 million. The state set the bids by averaging three appraisals of the parcel, Mr. Levin said.

Though the minimum bid is much lower than it was in 2007, the real estate market is still much stronger than it was a few years ago.

“It’s a good time to sell, with real estate values rising,” a CMS spokesman said.

Levin is auctioning the property in conjunction with Clinton-based Martin Auction Services LLC.

Alby Gallun

chicagobusiness.com

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