The Flossmoor Village Board approved an amended escrow agreement Monday March 11 that will allow a private developer to acquire several tax-delinquent parcels the the Flossmoor Office Center as part of a potential redevelopment effort at 1835 Dixie Highway.
The agreement replaces an earlier arrangement between the village and the Flossmoor Office Center Condominium Association and instead allows the Vollmer Group LLC, which replaces the association, to move forward with acquiring parcels that had been targeted for redevelopment.
According to the agreement, the village previously identified 11 parcels with delinquent property taxes that were eligible for acquisition through Cook County’s municipal “no-cash bid” program, which allows municipalities to obtain tax-delinquent property for redevelopment purposes.
However, the county did not act on the village’s initial petition for those parcels. Instead, five of the parcels at 1835 Dixie Highway were transferred to the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which now holds the tax deeds for the properties.
Under the newly approved agreement, the Vollmer Group will deposit $59,600 into an escrow account with the village to cover the cost of acquiring five parcels from the Cook County Land Bank Authority. The amount includes a $50,000 purchase price set by the land bank along with estimated closing costs and legal fees.
Village officials said the agreement clears the way for the village to obtain the parcels from the land bank and then transfer them to the developer by quitclaim deed.
During the meeting, Village Manager Bridget A. Wachtel also addressed questions about the remaining parcels originally pursued by the village.
“We pursued all 11 of those PINs under the municipal side of the county’s no-cash bid program,” Wachtel said. “That program is on hold right now, so I’m not sure what the future of that is going to be.”
Because that program is currently paused, the status of the six remaining parcels originally targeted by the village remains uncertain, officials said.
The earlier escrow agreement required the condominium association to deposit $20,000 to cover legal costs associated with pursuing the tax-delinquent properties. Under the new agreement, the village will return the remaining balance of those funds to the association after deducting costs already incurred.
Village leaders said the parcels were initially targeted because they had been tax delinquent for more than three years and were considered suitable for commercial redevelopment, particularly in the Dixie Highway corridor.
The newly approved agreement allows the project to move forward with a new development partner while clarifying financial responsibilities and transferring redevelopment rights to the Vollmer Group.
