WICKER PARK — A vintage 127-year-old apartment building near Wicker Park's main hub that housed a now-shuttered nightclub The New D'Vine and Blue Fin Sushi Bar is scheduled to be sold at a public auction.
According to a sign posted in the window of what was The New D'Vine, an auction for the four-story, eight-unit building at 1950-52 W. North Ave. will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Judicial Sales Corporation, 1 South Wacker Drive.
The opening bid is $2.7 million, though Bob Romero, vice president of acquired assets at MB Bank, said on Wednesday that the bank — which is trying to recoup some $3 million worth of debt on the property — hopes to be outbid.
"It's the end of the foreclosure; usually a sheriff's sale is scheduled or a judicial sale. This neighborhood is very hot right now. I expect us to be outbid on this. I've got a whole list of people to call [who are asking about it]," Romero said.
The New D'Vine, at 1950 W. North Ave., closed last November after the city filed an emergency injunction to stop it from operating, alleging it was a public nuisance. The club's manager, who laid off 13 workers, voluntarily closed with two years remaining on his lease.
Peak Properties has been managing the four-story building since it went into receivership several years ago.
When asked about the future of Blue Fin Sushi bar, a family-run neighborhood staple, Romero said, "That will be up to the buyer to determine if they want to continue with the tenant or have them removed."
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