Hoping to flip the land, Mundelein to buy former car wash on Seymour Avenue

In their continued push for downtown redevelopment, Mundelein officials put their money where their mouths were Monday night by opening their checkbook for more property in the area.

The village board unanimously agreed to purchase the former Watertower Car Wash at 167 N. Seymour Ave. The property will cost the village $125,000.

“We’re getting it for a great price,” Mayor Steve Lentz said during the board’s meeting at village hall.

The roughly half-acre site is just south of a village water tower and a former fire station that’s under contract to be privately purchased and converted into a microbrewery, pub and restaurant.

It’s also west of the village-owned Archer Business Center, where the Tighthead Brewing Co. and other businesses now operate, and it isn’t far from village hall and the village’s Metra station.

Officials are counting on an entrepreneur to come along and see the site as an opportunity for private investment and redevelopment.

“It’s a very strategic lot,” Lentz said.

The six-bay car wash has been closed since at least 2015. Officials intend to demolish the building soon but don’t yet have a timetable.