As representatives of the Waukegan Community Development Partnership and the city continue negotiations over a proposed $315 million downtown redevelopment project, a member of the partnership is developing one of the parcels on his own. Starting with the former YMCA on Clayton Street, as well as a one-time combination restaurant and office building on Genesee Street, the development team revealed in March it was attempting to buy and redevelop the buildings into multiuse partnership projects. With the former YMCA still under contract, the owner of 38 North Genesee Street grew impatient waiting for the partnership to close, Mikki Schuk, a member of the partnership team, decided to buy it himself.
He took title to the building in September and went to work. “I’m not going to sit and wait,” Schuk said. “I’m going to do it myself, brick by brick.
Downtown Waukegan is going to come to life again.” Schuk is in the process of getting the ground floor ready for a commercial tenant, and obtaining building permits from the city to put six luxury apartments on the second and third floors of the building at 38 North Genesee St. in downtown Waukegan.
Owning and renting upscale and luxury dwellings in downtown Waukegan is not new to Schuk. In the last 25 months, he has renovated four downtown buildings, putting seven luxury units in two and 16 upscale apartments in the other pair. He remains part of the development team.
At a special meeting of the Waukegan City Council in Mar.