Billboard visible from Wrigley worth $350,000/year

It’s just a sign on the roof of a building, but it’s diagonally across the street from Wrigley Field (and, presumably, it’s legal) so it’s worth $350,000/year.  That’s how much Anheuser-Busch was paying to maintain their advertising sign on it.  This is in the news only because A-B failed to pay on time, so the corporation owning the building at 3701 N. Kenmore covered the sign. (Print editions of the story seem to have mislocated the building on Sheffield)

$350,000/year implies the sign, or rather the right to place it on that building, is worth something like $4-$6 million.

The County Assessor’s web site says that 3701 N. Kenmore is parcel number 14-20-219-026-0000 and has a total market value of $854,000 (The “assessed value” is $136,640).  So if the right to place a sign is worth, say $4 million, even pretending that the building has no value at all, the assessment is far too low, only 3.4% of market value.

I want the Assessor to assess my house at 3.4% of the value of the right to put a sign on the roof.

Tags: Billboards, Cook County Assessor, Jim Houlihan, wrigley field