Niles Township D219 sells Howard Street property for $2.6 million

Nearly a decade after Niles Township High School District 219 bought a property in Niles to be used as a bus terminal, the Board of Education unanimously approved selling the unused property for just over $2.6 million at its meeting on Nov. 11.

The district purchased the property at 6119 Howard Street in Niles for $2.5 million in 2015, with the intention of utilizing it as a transit depot for the district’s buses and those of several other school districts in the area, as previously reported. Those plans, however, never came to fruition after the village of Niles denied the district a necessary zoning change, citing concerns that it would create increased bus traffic in an already industrial area of Niles.

The Board of Education approved the sale of the property for $2,600,100 to Burnham Venture Partners LLC, a business management consultant group. Burnham was the only group to bid on the property, according to district documents.

The buyer has a 90-day due diligence period to inspect and review all related documentation for the property, per district records.

A year prior, the district announced it would accept a minimum bid of $2.625 million for the property. At the time, the district was entertaining an offer from Skokie-based party rental company House of Rental. The property’s price was not publicly listed at the time.

After the district bought the property in 2015, the district faced a prolonged approval process from the village of Niles to change the building’s zoning code to allow the property to be used as a bus terminal to serve District 219, Niles Elementary School District 71, Morton Grove School District 70 and Lincolnwood School District 74.

“In 2020, the Board of Education determined the Howard Street property was no longer of use and directed the Administration to proceed with the solicitation of sealed bids for its sale – the property has been available for sale since,” Jim Vreeland, the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Business, wrote the Board of Education in a memo.

The district would later purchase a property on Oakton Street to serve as its transit hub.

Students from Lincolnwood and Skokie and portions of Niles and Morton Grove in Niles Township attend D219 high schools.