Back in the early 80s I bought two lots in the 1800 block of Maud for $10,000 apiece, and optioned a dozen more at price ranging from twelve to twenty thousand. The guy I bought my two lots from had acquired them for back taxes for about $300 each. That tells you a great deal about the state of the area at the time.
I was living a block away and was convinced the area would soon blossom. I commissioned Bill Bauhs, a talented architect, to design a 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath, 1,600 square foot single-family home that I offered to ell on my lots at prices ranging from $139,000 to $159,000.
I had no takers. Buyers and, especially, brokers were blinded to the potential of the area by the black people who were living on the street and who tended to hang out on their front porches. These were solid, middle-class citizens who worked at the Chicago Boiler plant that then stood at the end of Maud Street. Race fear, as infuriating as it was to me, was a powerful negative motivator for real estate brokers at the time.
Join me for a video walk down the block I didn’t build on.