Going once, going twice ...
After a week-long delay, Tony Rezko’s suburban Chicago home sold at auction today for $2,835,814 to Bank of America. Savvy real estate types were expecting the deal of the century, but B of A undercut itself to land the low bid. B of A was the bank that foreclosed on the home to begin with.
“It’s a small market for homes that are in that upper bracket,” Sharon Freidman, a sales associate in the Winnetka South office of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate LLC told Crain’s Chicago Business. “There aren’t that many people out there with a lot of money. The dot-commers have come and gone.”
The mortgage on the Rezko home is $5.15 million, but Bank of America is hoping to recoup just some of that cash. More than a few brokers told Crain’s that the home, which includes a gold toilet, will sell for between $3- and $4 million.
Rezko, a real estate developer and Papa John’s pizza magnate, is currently in federal custody holding on to kickback money from management firms that sought state business. He was convicted in June, and his name has turned up in investigations of politicians including Governor Rod Blagojevich and even President Barack Obama.
Rezko originally purchased the two-story suburban Chicago home, which includes five full bathrooms and a three-car garage for $1.9 million and the developer refinanced the mortgage on the 1250 Chestnut Ave. home, about three years before he was indicted on federal fraud and money-laundering charges.
