How A Billboard Saved A Vacant Building

6411 W. Burleigh St. in July 2023. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Tasnique Love is looking to move her growing printing business out of her house and into a vacant building at a busy northside intersection.

The one-story building at the corner of W. Appleton Avenue and W. Burleigh Street is unusual for what sits above it, a billboard. The billboard, the industry standard for which is 672 square feet, would nearly cover the 980-square-foot building if laid atop it.

But it’s the billboard that drew Love to the property, 6411 W. Burleigh St.

She once rented the billboard to put up a photo of her two kids with the message that their parents were proud of them.

“So that’s how I first noticed the building,” said Love to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Thursday.

Through T Love Investments, she would purchase the Lenox Heights property from the city for $20,000. The one-story building was constructed in 1925 and has been vacant since the city acquired it via property tax foreclosure from Shartavia Adams in 2017.

Love is an entrepreneur. She was involved in the creation of Heiress Lounge & Networking Cafe, 4919 W. Center St., and is listed as the business’s registered agent with no ownership interest. Her mother, Lawanda Shaw, serves as the owner. Their entity Love-Shaw Building, LLC owns the property. A little more than a decade ago, Shaw owned the short-lived Tasnique’s Bar & Grill, 4416-4420 N. 27th St. An earlier iteration of the Heiress lounge was located in Riverwest. Love and Shaw own other rental properties.

“I am currently also doing property management, like an answering service for other landlords in the area,” said Love. “But the main focus is the printing business.”

She said her printing business handles yard signs, flyers, business cards, apparel and invitations. “Anything for funeral or memorial services. I pretty much do it,” said Love. “It is growing, so I am looking to get it out of home and into a small space like that.” She currently lives less than two miles from the building.

DCD real estate specialist Dwayne Edwards said Love is expected to invest $50,000 in the property, some of which could come in the form of self-performed work. Landscaping and decorative fencing are also to be added. The city, said Edwards, could support the project with reimbursable whitebox or facade grants.

The property Love wants to buy was previously sought by other buyers, but Edwards said proposals fell through. It was previously listed for $75,000. Its assessment peaked at $98,000 in 2016. The building was last used by a childcare center.

But What About The Billboard?

One thing that won’t change, to the dismay of the committee, is the billboard. Lamar Advertising will continue to own the structure.

“The city attorney tried to resolve that issue and get it removed, but they have a lock solid agreement,” said Edwards, noting it was an easement in perpetuity.

“I don’t know how and why in god’s name previous people allowed those ugly billboards to go up in our city,” said area Alderman Michael Murphy.

Money, said Ald. Robert Bauman. “Back in the day Appleton Avenue was Highway 41,” said the alderman in suggesting an explanation for why that particular site may have been targeted.

The committee members were quick to suggest billboards they thought were even worse.

“There is one on Hawley Road that is the worst ever,” said Murphy.

“I have one worse than that. On Burleigh across from the old KFC, that one is terrible,” said Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II.

While the council clearly doesn’t love some of these billboards, this one will have helped return a property to the tax rolls. By chance, the specific image is already recorded in city records. A Department of Neighborhood Services inspector photographed Love’s billboard for an April 2023 sign permit.

The committee unanimously endorsed the sale, which will go before the full council on Feb. 27.

Related Legislation: File 231565