Preserving 40-60 N. Middleton Ave

for the

Palatine Greenway

a citizen's vision

Greenway Preservation Opportunity: 40-60 N. Middleton Ave.

There is a 2 acre parcel that is for sale in Palatine that is in near pristine natural condition and has the main branch of the Salt Creek flowing through it from north to south. The property is know as the West Town Buyers Group parcel.

There are small to medium sized public parks located immediately to the north and south of the parcel, so acquiring and preserving this property would fill a gap and essentially create a greenway in an area where currently none exist.

Original Conditions

Acquired 20 N. Middleton Ave on January 31, 2022.

Combine 1102 W. Palatine with 20 N. Middleton Ave

Purchase West Town Buyers Group parcel

Welcome the community to explore their new natural area

Build trail underpass and accompanying path during future Palatine Road reconstruction

Sign as Palatine Greenway and integrate with the community

Methods of Land Conservation

While there are dozens of ways to preserve open space for the Palatine Greenway, limited resources make many methods of land acquisition difficult to implement in small and medium sized communities such as Palatine.

Below I highlight 2 methods that are commonly used in built up communities. Other common methods include subdivison land dedications, donations, conservation easements, and bidding on tax lien & mortgage foreclosures.

Full Acquisition (i.e., Fee Simple)

Step 1

Identify property for possible acquisition based on its ability to protect the stream corridor and construct a multi-use trail. Monitor its MLS status and take no action while it is not on the market.

Step 2

Once the property becomes for sale, a municipal, district, county or non-profit organization's board members instruct their legal counsel to contact the seller to negotiate a purchase price and prepare a purchase offer.

Step 3

The seller accepts the purchase offer and a closing date is set. On the closing date, the ownership of the property is transferred to the government or non-profit agency.

Step 4

Agency staff takes possession of the property and schedules scrapping and demolition of existing structures.

Step 5

The property becomes new public green space.

Step 6

Once enough contiguous parcels are assembled through the process, the green space can become a named park or have a greenway trail constructed upon it.

Partial Acquisition (i.e., Fee Simple + subdivision)

Step 1

Identify property for possible acquisition based on its ability to protect the stream corridor and construct a multi-use trail. Monitor its MLS status and take no action while it is not on the market.

Step 2

Once the property becomes for sale, a municipal, district, county or non-profit organization's board members instruct their legal counsel to contact the seller to negotiate a purchase price and prepare a purchase offer.

Step 3

The seller accepts the purchase offer and a closing date is set. On the closing date, the ownership of the property is transferred to the government or non-profit agency.

Step 4

Agency staff takes possession of the property, identify the portion of the property that should be converted to public open space, and schedules any necessary repairs to the existing structures.

Step 5

The property is subdivided and the home is sold off with the resulting proceeds covering most if not all of the original purchase price.

Step 6

The remaining portion of the property becomes new public green space.

Step 7

Once enough contiguous parcels are assembled through the process, a greenway trail can be constructed upon it.

Properties that have Greenway Potential

No.PINAddress & Redfin LinkAcquisition
Type		MLS StatusLast CheckedActions
102-16-410-004 40-N-Middleton-Ave-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
Steve has initiated a campaign to encourage an open space agency to acquire and preserve the 40 N Middleton Ave property.
Campaign status: Negotiations are currently underway to purchase and preserve this parcel as public open space.
202-16-410-005 60-N-Middleton-Ave-Palatine-IL-60067 Full Not For Sale Monday, Sep 30, 2019
Steve has initiated a campaign to encourage an open space agency to acquire and preserve the 60 N Middleton Ave property.
Campaign status: Negotiations are currently underway to purchase and preserve this parcel as public open space.
302-16-410-013 20-N-Middleton-Ave-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
Steve has initiated a campaign to encourage an open space agency to acquire and preserve the 20 N Middleton Ave property.
Campaign status:
  • 2019-09-27: 20 N. Middleton came on the market with an asking price of $125,000.
  • 2019-09-28: I alerted the Palatine Park District's Board of Commissioners via email.
  • 2019-09-30: The District's Executive Director responded to my email stating that the Board Members were planning to discuss the 20 N. Middleton Ave opportunity in a closed meeting at their October 8th board meeting.
  • 2019-10-12: I learned that District staff had been directed to take action which could possibly result in the purchase of the property in question as well as the 2 vacant parcels immediately to the north.
  • 2019-10-19: The MLS asking price dropped to $110,000.
  • 2019-10-22: The seller's agent informed me that they have two offers at present. If someone is interested we have about one day until the seller decides what offer to take.
  • 2019-10-24: A land planner from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County's Planning & Development department called to discuss my request. Due to the size and proximity of the parcel, the District would not want to pursue such a purchase. I requested that he contact the Palatine Park District to let them know of our conversation.
  • 2019-10-25 - 2019-10-29: The seller accepted an offer from a private buyer. However, a few days later the contract fell through and the property came back onto the market. At that time, the asking price jumped up a bit to $115,000.
  • 2019-10-30: I has sent an email to the president & CEO of Openlands conservation organization to ask for their assistance in preserving the 20 N. Middleton property as public open space. Unfortunately, Openlands has never gotten back to me.
  • 2020-11-4: Susan Lenz, the executive director for the Barrington Area Conservation Trust called to discuss my request. BACT is not in the position to purchase property. They tend to work with private homeowners. Susan suggested I contact Citizens for Conservation, which I did.
  • 2020-11-8: Steve Smith of Citizens for Conservation called and we had a conversation about the property. Due to its built structures, its proximity to Park District properties and its location in Palatine, it would not be something that CFC would be interested in purchasing, with the exception of considering it as a donation. He did indicate the property would be a worthwhile project for preservation and suggested to me to get local residents on board to write and call the Palatine Park District to encourage them to acquire it. He also suggested contacting Deer Grove Natural Areas Volunteers to see if they could help me preserve the property. I encouraged Steve Smith to contact the executive director of the Palatine Park District to discuss the opportunity.
  • 2019-11-9: The Palatine Park District provided me clarification about why they are not currently pursuing the 20 N. Middleton Ave property. In response, I created the following animated GIF showing how this parcel could be acquired now while its neighboring, vacant property could be acquired in the future.  If we miss the opportunity to buy 20 N. Middleton today, it could take decades before it came back on the market and by that time, the adjacent parcel would likely be lost to private development.
  • 2019-11-11: Rebecca Judd of Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation responded to my request for assistance. GDDF's land conservation grant-making focus for the Chicago region is to support eligible organizations that advance landscape-scale natural area land restoration and stewardship. They do not offer grant support for land parcel acquisitions, and moreover, this small parcel appears to be outside of their current programmatic focus. They do offer low cost financing through their program-related investment to assist with land acquisitions, but only if the project (and organizational entity) falls within their programmatic focus.
  • 2019-11-12: I was informed that the Palatine Park District would consider my suggestion and information at their November 12th Board Meeting.
  • 2019-11-17: The Deer Grove West Natural Areas Volunteers responded to my request. While they are enthusiastic about my proposal, their group is dedicated to Deer Grove. They will, however, pass it along to folks in real estate at the Forest Preserve District.
  • 2019-12-10: There is some movement regarding the preservation of an adjacent parcel, which is requisite on the pursuit of the 20 N. Middleton property.
  • 2019-12-14: I learned that the 20 N. Middleton Ave house's basement has flooded above the 2nd stair on multiple occasions.
    This structure is NOT sound and should be condemned; its flood-prone land purchases and preserved by a governmental or conservation agency.
  • 2019-12-23: 20 N. Middleton MLS status became CONTINGENT on contract. It is unknown, but doubtful, whether the Palatine Park District is the buyer.
  • 2020-3-12: 20 N. Middleton was sold for $80,000. I am waiting for the county to update their records to determine who the buyer was. I have my fingers crossed that it was the Palatine Park District!
402-21-203-013 5-N-Quentin-Rd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
5AUCTION-Palatine Palatine properties for Auction Full No parcels up for auction Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
602-22-414-001 125-Pleasant-Hill-Blvd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
702-22-413-001 124-Pleasant-Hill-Blvd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
802-22-412-018 239-W-Cheryl-Ln-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
902-22-412-017 239-W-Cheryl-Ln-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1002-22-406-068 278-W-Illinois-Ave-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1102-22-404-041 210-Pleasant-Hill-Blvd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1202-22-216-002 177-S-Smith-St-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1302-22-201-064 43-S-Cedar-St-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1402-21-203-019 801-W-Palatine-Rd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1502-21-203-014 801-W-Palatine-Rd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1602-15-304-014 508-W-Palatine-Rd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1702-21-201-006 1053-W-Palatine-Rd-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1802-16-406-005 130-N-Middleton-Ave-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
1902-16-406-004 145-N-Clyde-Ave-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
2002-16-405-017 1150-W-Wilson-St-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
2102-16-405-015 144-N-Clyde-Ave-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
2202-16-405-005 1170-W-Wilson-St-60067 Partial Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023
2302-15-304-015 512-W-Palatine-Rd-60067 Full Status Unknown Saturday, Dec 30, 2023