Catholic school might need divine intervention to sell Bronzeville campus at $44 psf

Hales Franciscan school is asking $7.5M for the 170K sf site

Hales Franciscan at E. 50th St. and S. Langley Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)
Hales Franciscan at E. 50th St. and S. Langley Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)

A struggling all-boys Catholic school in Washington Park has put up part of its campus for sale, but it may need more than 10 Hail Marys to sell at the current asking price.

Hales Franciscan has put the western portion of the campus, which contains 3.9 acres and the football stadium, on the market for $7.5 million, according to Crain’s. The eastern portion is not for sale.

Those four acres could be very appealing to a residential developer since the zoning allows for high-density apartment buildings, two-flats, townhomes or single-family homes, Crain’s reported. Over 40 homes have sold for $500,000-plus in Bronzeville over the last six months.

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At 170,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest properties to hit the market in Bronzeville in years. But Coldwell Banker’s David Olaoye, who has worked on some new development projects in Bronzeville, told Crain’s that the price point — at $44 a square foot — is not in line with past sales.

Smaller properties in the area have been selling around $22 a foot, and one nearby 0.9-acre plot is listed at $36 a foot, according to Crain’s analysis. At this point, a developer would likely be delayed by the Covid-19 crisis, which is expected to depress prices and sales velocity over 2020. And getting a construction loan in this climate could also prove challenging.

CBRE’s Mike Nardini and Sara Ware of Ware Realty are representing the Catholic school. [Crain’s] — James Kleimann