Crusader Staff Report
A portion of a real estate empire once owned by Reverend Leon Finney, Jr. was sold Monday, October 28 for $7.7M in Chicago’s Loop amid protests.
During an auction at the LaSalle Street law offices of Levenfeld Pearlstein, buyers snatched up 15 properties in Bronzeville, Woodlawn and Washington Park. Six of the properties are located in Woodlawn.
Protestors reportedly disrupted the auction for a brief moment as they pushed for a community benefits agreement with the future Obama Presidential Center and Library that will be built near some of the sold properties.
According to a photo of the auction, most of the buyers were white. Their names were not available by press time Wednesday.
The properties were auctioned off by the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 after years of decline.
Finney started the company 50 years ago and ran it for 47 years. In a court filing, Finney’s attorneys claim that their client was not involved in the organization’s daily affairs in recent years. They asked the court to allow Finney to reorganize the organization while in bankruptcy court.
The auction went on anyway.
A vacant lot near the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop at 2211 S. State St. generated the highest sale at $1.8 million. The second highest sale was another vacant lot at 6234 S. Woodlawn Avenue.
One high-profile property, the former headquarters of Urban Broadcast Media at 4108 S. King Drive, was sold for $475,000. A vacant greystone at 4112 S. King Drive next door sold for $245,000.
Two vacant lots at 6310 and 6312 S. Woodlawn were sold together at $515,000.
The lowest sale, at $20,000, was a vacant lot at 6521 S. Evans Avenue.
Proceeds of the sale will go towards Woodlawn’s list of creditors.
