LINCOLN PARK — DePaul University is in the final phases of selling its former Theater School building on Kenmore Avenue.
The building, which is situated on seven contiguous city lots at 2135 N. Kenmore Ave., was put on the market following the opening of DePaul's $72 million new theater building.
The university has received several bids for the building, according to Jay Jones, director of the Office of University Real Estate.
Paul Biasco says the lots could likely end up as residential buildings:
The school advertised the building, which is situated on a residential street, as an opportunity for the development of single-family and multi-unit homes.
Jones said there was no listing price on the property.
"The property is in a residential area, surrounded by houses, and the university has been unable to identify a long-term use for the aged facility that would justify the considerable rehabilitation and maintenance costs," he said.
The property is not contiguous to the Lincoln Park campus and is not a part of either the school's planned development or master plan, according to Jones.
The former theater building sits on a 61,670-square-foot lot with 180 feet of frontage on Kenmore.
Since DePaul moved its theater school in the fall of 2013 to its new 165,000-square-foot home at the corner of Fullerton and Racine avenues, the former building has served as a temporary storage space.
The Vincentians purchased the property in 1881 and St. Vincent de Paul Parish constructed an elementary school on the site in 1891.
St. Vincent's School closed in 1978 and DePaul University bought the property in 1985, transforming the former elementary school to a home for the Theatre School at DePaul.
There was no actual theater in the old theater building and students practiced in converted classrooms in the building that was described as "cozy."
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