Willowbrook housing market starting to rebound after cancer-linked Sterigenics plant shut down

Here’s one way to kickstart a real estate market: close the factory that was producing cancer-causing chemicals.

Real estate agents say many homeowners in Willowbrook and other DuPage County towns located near the Sterigenics plant are choosing to stay or will have an easier time selling their houses as a result of the facility’s permanent shutdown.

Sterigenics sterilized medical, pharmaceutical and food-industry devices at its Willowbrook plant and its release of the toxin ethylene oxide was found to have significantly elevated the risk of cancer for residents in the area. The Illinois Department of Health reported in March that the incidence of some cancers was 10 times the norm within a 1.5-mile radius from the plant.

Out of concern for safety, residents tried to leave the area but had trouble selling their homes. Few buyers materialized knowing that the Sterigenics plant was still active and its future uncertain.

Data from the Chicago Association of Realtors and Midwest Real Estate Data shows home sales in Willowbrook were down 17 percent at the end of August compared to the same period last year, and homes were also taking about 17 percent longer to sell, according to Crain’s.

American Brokers Real Estate agent Neringa Koller told Crain’s that the housing market has started to rebound since it was announced at the end of September that Sterigenics would permanently shutdown its Willowbrook facility.

Before the announcement of the plant’s closure, a Willowbrook listing took price cuts totaling almost 25 percent throughout the spring and summer until the seller took the home off the market in July, Linda Feinstein, who owns the Re/Max Signature Homes office in Hinsdale, told Crain’s. But within a week of the shutdown news, she said someone who had previous looked at the home came back and offered full price even though it wasn’t back on the market.

[Crain’s] — Brianna Kelly