“The Latin School of Chicago bought an 1890s building on Dearborn Street, its fourth purchase on the same block in recent weeks, and says the $10 million group of buildings will remain on property tax rolls although the school’s other properties are tax-exempt.
“On May 25, the elite private school paid $2.1 million for 1505 N. Dearborn, a greystone built in the 1890s and divided into apartments since the 1940s.
“Earlier in May, the school bought the next three addresses north, for a total of nearly $8 million.
“Randall Dunn, Latin’s head of school, said last week in a prepared statement that the school “is not planning to make any changes to the properties, aside from general upkeep and maintenance,” and that the purchases were made because “opportunities to acquire properties like these do not come up often and Latin looks forward to using these properties to continue creating an environment that meets the needs of its students and respects its place in this historic neighborhood.”
“With the latest purchase, Latin now owns eight of the 10 addresses on the east side of Dearborn between North Avenue and Burton Place.
“The four new acquisitions had property tax bills totaling $188,311 in 2021, according to the Cook County treasurer. Katie O’Dea, Latin’s director of communications, said all four buildings will remain on the property tax rolls.
“That’s a different strategy than Latin took with two other properties it acquired in years past on the same block of Dearborn.
“The property at 1547 N. Dearborn, an 18,000-square-foot mansion with a side garden, had a property tax bill of $209,102 in the last year before Latin bought it for $12 million in 2017. The property has since been tax-exempt, according to the treasurer.” (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 6/2/22)
For the past number of years, Preservation Chicago has been working with community groups and elected officials to create a new Gold Coast Landmark District. It would be wonderful for the Latin School of Chicago to support this effort. Now is a great time to move forward with the process of formalizing a Designated Chicago Landmark District that would include North Dearborn Parkway and North State Parkway.