Plainfield to buy shuttered Baci restaurant
By Madhu Mayer For The Herald-News April 19, 2012 7:52AM
Updated: May 23, 2012 8:06AM
PLAINFIELD — The village of Plainfield this week took a major step toward getting a foreclosed property back on the market.
The Plainfield Village Board authorized the execution of an agreement for the purchase of Baci Italian restaurant at 24018 W. Lockport St., which has been closed since 2010. Village Administrator Brian Murphy said the village negotiated the purchase price down to $125,000, which basically represents the land value.
Originally, the nearly 6,000-square-foot building was listed for more than $800,000. A recent Internet listing for the building asked for a purchase price around $320,000.
Murphy said the village is not planning to use general funds to buy the property. Instead, it plans to use money from the downtown tax increment financing (TIF) fund, which is a public financing method that is used for subsidizing redevelopment, infrastructure and other projects.
TIF is a method to use future gains in taxes to subsidize current improvements, which are projected to create the conditions for said gains. The completion of a public project often results in an increase in the value of surrounding real estate, which generates additional tax revenue.
The village plans to remove mold in the basement of the downtown commercial building that once housed a church and do roof repairs before putting the property on the market.
Murphy said the mold remediation to remove damaged materials will cost around $50,000.
“Our first priority is to secure the (leaky) roof and remediate the mold,” he said.
James Caliendo of Plainfield said he is glad the village has stepped in to take care of the vacant property on Lockport Street just west of Route 59.
“We need more businesses to create foot traffic in downtown,” he said. “My family and I used to go to Baci all the time. But the economy and especially the Route 59 widening project several years ago put that place out of business.”
