Here’s another property threatened by eminent domain in the Des Plaines Five Corners/River-Rand TIF District. The last two businesses I blogged about, the Geiser-Berner plumbing shop and the corner BP Gas Station are both inside what I’m calling the Inner Triangle, the region bounded on the east by River Road, on the southwest by Rand Road, and on the north by the Union Pacific railroad tracks. Directly between those two properties is the Suburban Transmission building.
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| Larger ImageSuburban Transmission |
Judging by the number of cars (and the number of signs) this is a thriving business. Actually, if you take a close look at the next photo (click through to the larger image), you can see that this building is an auto repair mini-mall containing Suburban Transmissions, Fair Muffler Shops, and ReNew Auto Body.
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| Larger ImageIt's an Auto Repair Mini-Mall |
Wait, look at this picture:
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| Larger ImageAJ's Auto Repairs |
I can make out signs for AJ’s Auto Repairs, so that’s four businesses that face major disruptions if this property is condemned. How blighted can this property be if four businesses thought it was a good idea to squeeze themselves into it?
I wish I’d paid more attention to this when I was there. I’d like to talk to the owners and make sure this is really four businesses. It could just be a bunch of different services provided by the same company, kind of like those KFC-Taco Bell places.
I’m guessing that an auto-repair business puts a lot of thought and effort into adapting the building to its needs. It’s probably fascinating. I’d like to get inside to take pictures.
(Visit the previous Des Plaines entry.)
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