Lot next to Obama’s home up for sale again, for $899,000
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter November 13, 2012 5:38PM
An iron fence seperates a vacant lot next to President Barack Obama's house, left, at Greenwood Avenue and 51st Street, February 23, 2007. | Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 26, 2012 9:39AM
The vacant lot next to President Barack Obama’s Kenwood home is for sale. The 50-foot-by-150-foot lot is at 5050 S. Greenwood and used to be owned by Rita Rezko, wife of convicted political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Obama paid Rita Rezko for a swath of the property to use as a buffer for his own, a transaction he called “boneheaded” during his first presidential campaign.
John and Marjorie Poulos have owned the lot since 2008, when they paid the Rezkos’ lawyer $675,000 for the title. They have hired Anthony Rouches of Chicago’s @properties as the agent and are asking $899,000.
Rouches said the sellers never pursued plans for an 8,000-square-foot custom home.
It sits on a block that’s been called the safest in the free world, as there’s a Chicago police and Secret Service detail always there. But living next to Obama, even if he’s largely an absentee neighbor the next four years, has its challenges.
Rouches said prospective buyers must submit their financial information to get a showing and that names of people seeing the property must be turned in 24 hours beforehand.
