At least one-quarter of downtown Macomb appears to be for sale right now. There could be more, as some property owners may be exploring offers without having formally listed any availability.

There was some shock expressed this week at the sudden closure of Ford Hopkins Drug Store. One might assume that portion of West Side Square will soon be on the market.

Consulting the free monthly guide, “Macomb Area Real Estate,” I discovered three other parts of the square listed for sale plus a half-block of East Carroll Street. The half-block of West Side Square just to the south of the drug store is one of those listed.

The magazine also lists a half-block of East Side Square and a half-block of South Side Square for sale. Combs Apartments, occupying one-quarter of the 200 block of East Carroll, is listed. Also occupying one-quarter of that block, not listed but known to be for sale for the last few years, is the former Lamoine Hotel where this newspaper is located.

All of this potential turnover could be a good thing. The Chamber of Commerce is on record, in testimony at Macomb City Hall last year, as saying that one of the detriments to the further development of downtown is those owners who reap rental income but put none of the money back into their properties.

That comment was particularly directed at “absentee landlords” who live far away from Macomb. Rent money given to them doesn’t recirculate in Macomb but, rather, gets deposited in banks in the Chicago area and elsewhere.

Good news for the square this year was the purchase of two buildings by local people who immediately began to make improvements. The city is applying for a grant that would make more money available to those interested in improving the looks of their downtown properties.

It’s painfully obvious that the economy has made real estate a buyer’s market. We might not see new owners for the available downtown buildings for awhile.
On the other hand, a building on South Lafayette Street adjacent to the square was listed for sale in March and does not appear in the May real estate publication. I hope that means there’s a new owner with development ideas and not that the property has been withdrawn from the market for lack of interest.

I had a part-time job in 1985 where I would work downtown early each morning. Before heading off to Western Illinois University, I would take a walk around the square and watch as merchants opened their shops. I enjoyed seeing this aspect of our vital downtown and hope to see some new faces in currently empty storefronts.

– Patrick Stout is a correspondent for The McDonough County Voice. He can be reached at news6@McDonoughVoice.com.