Posted by Mike Northwest Suburbanite on May 10, 2010 at 00:33:52:
Mike North the average joe/regular guy/blue collar man here:
WBBM's Mike North lists 2 lots in Park Ridge
'Monsters & Money in the Morning' co-host selling lake parcels for $1.1 million each
Mike North, the longtime Chicago TV & radio personality who talks sports & business from 5-7am weekdays as the co-host of WBBM-Ch. 2's "Monsters and Money in the Morning" show, and his wife, Be-Be, were all set to build their 9,000-square-foot dream house on a secluded lake in Park Ridge when they had a change of plans.
In 2005, they bought the extra-large lot on 14.5-acre Murphy Lake in Park Ridge, which is just northwest of the busy intersection of Touhy Avenue & Dee Road, but is well-hidden. They razed the property's ranch-style house and split the site into two lots with an eye toward building their dream house on one lot, while Be-Be North's sister & brother-in-law would construct a home on the other.
Fate, however, intervened.
Her sister & brother-in-law suddenly got the opportunity to buy the house next door to them in Park Ridge. Once that happened, the Norths lost interest in building a new house on Murphy Lake. They now plan to stay in their longtime Park Ridge home and, as a result, have the two lakefront lots for sale at $1.1 million each.
"Kids came up to Mike at our house on Halloween and asked, 'Why are you moving?' " Be-Be North said. "And we didn't really have a good reason to move once my sister & brother-in-law decided not to build on one of the lots."
The land is part of the private Murphy Lake community, which consists of about 30 homes surrounding the small lake created out of a gravel pit about 60 years ago.
The smaller, 0.37-acre northern lot has more water frontage, while the larger, half-acre southern one is rectangular, North said.
North originally listed the lots for $1.4 million and $1.3 million. With the housing slowdown, he said, he abandoned thoughts of much of a profit on the land, which he bought through a bank trust in 2005 for $2.1 million.
North noted that as part of the sale, he'll include $60,000 worth of architectural drawings for the two houses that he and his relatives had planned to build. The Norths had commissioned plans for a 9,000-square-foot mansion, while his wife's sister had drawn up plans for a 7,000-square-foot house.
An independent real estate broker is the listing agent.