Rod Blagojevich’s storied Northwest Side home is on the market
A Sun-Times Staff Report July 15, 2011 12:30PM
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his wife, Patti Blagojevich, as they depart from the Federal Building. Friday, July 15, 2011. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
Updated: July 20, 2011 5:17PM
The storied Ravenswood Manor home of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich could be yours.
Blagojevich’s attorneys told U.S. District Judge James Zagel that Rod and Patti Blagojevich have put the home on the market — they did not say for how much.
The Cook County Assessor lists the home’s 2010 market value as $660,000.
After conferring with Patti Blagojevich, Blagojevich’s attorney Sheldon Sorosky told Zagel during a court hearing Friday that the couple had about $300,000 in equity on the home and another $300,000 in equity on a Washington, D.C. condominium Blagojevich has owned since his days as a congressman.
Prosecutors had asked for a $1 million bond but Zagel said a $450,000 bond would suffice.
Zagel called both Blagojevich’s up to stand in front of him as he warned them that Patti could lose the house if her husband violated conditions of the bond.
“I have no intention of violating the bond,” Blagojevich told Zagel. No date was set for Blagojevich’s sentencing on 18 counts of fraud relating to his term as governor. He is expected to file an appeal.
The Blagojeviches said little after the hearing except that they had filed all the necessary paperwork on their properties. Friday’s hearing before Zagel had been called because prosecutors complained that not all the documents had been turned in.
Asked after the hearing about the Blagojeviches putting their home on the market, Sorosky said, “It was an economic necessity ... so if anyone’s watching this and is interested in a nice house in Ravenswood, contact the Blagojeviches.”
In addition to serving as the backdrop for interviews with Blagojevich over the years, the beige-brick-with-white trim corner home has been in the news over the years for controversies such as whether the Blagojeviches used non-union labor to make renovations.
