Homewood will consider a commercial sales contract with Homewood Brewing Company for the sale of the former Bogart’s Charhouse on Nov. 9.
The board was slated to consider the contract at the Oct. 26 regular meeting but deferred consideration as the village works out minor details in the agreement.
The village had solicited alternative bids for the property — which the village acquired in a tax foreclosure sale in 2018 — and received none.
Now, the village intends to enter into a contract to sell the property to the Homewood Brewing Company. The property, located within the bounds of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, got that designation in October 2020 with the village intending to provide incentives for the property to be developed.
The dilapidated building was demolished recently through the Cook County Sheriff’s Restoring Neighborhoods Workforce program to prepare the site for development.
The approval of the contract would be a step toward redeveloping the property as proposed by the Homewood Brewing Company. The company has proposed to develop a single-story brewery and restaurant at the site. The facility would include a brewhouse, full-service kitchen, a taproom, dining room and outdoor seating.
The sale of the property would “result in the redevelopment of an underutilized vacant property at the gateway of downtown Homewood,” according to a village document, noting a restaurant is a targeted business and would attract customers to the village.
Village Attorney Chris Cummings has said if the village approves the sales contract, they’d have to vote on a redevelopment agreement that would “obligate the purchaser to build the project as proposed.”
That agreement is tentatively scheduled to appear before the board sometime after the Nov. 9 meeting, if the sales contract is approved.
Audit report approved
In other news, the village board, at its Oct. 26 meeting, accepted its annual financial report for the fiscal year ending April 30.
The annual audit review was presented by Ann Fields of the accounting firm Lauterbach and Amen. She told trustees the board received an unmodified opinion, the best review the village could receive.
Finance Director Dennis Bubenik said the audit was expected to be memorable “in a negative way” due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, but fortunately decreases in the village’s revenues due to the pandemic were offset by unexpected increases, primarily through sales tax.