The lot at the corner of East Sixth and Euclid avenues in the Highland Park-Oak Park neighborhood remains empty with no current plan in place to redevelop the site where the Highland Apartments once stood.

The 108-year-old, three-story brick building at 3524 Sixth Ave., was demolished in 2023 after local historic preservationists determined it would be too expensive to renovate.

Invest DSM, which works to strengthen older neighborhoods through various programs for improvements to homes and businesses, owns the site and had initially proposed a mixed-use building with commercial space on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors.

Today, nearly three-years later, the site remains vacant.

Theresa Greenfield, Invest DSM’s executive director, said the organization’s staff is reprioritizing projects in 2026 and she’s optimistic the vacant lot will be a focus of those conversations.

She said some projects may have been delayed with the leadership transition last year when former executive director Amber Lynch stepped down.

“We’ve certainly gone through a transition, but in that transition I think projects like that sometimes weren’t the highest priority, so I think that’s probably why you’ve seen a little bit of a delay,” said Greenfield, who joined Invest DSM in September.

She said Invest DSM has received interest in the site and what could go there.

“I’ve had conversations with businesses in the neighborhood and I think everybody is interested in what could go there and excited about the possibilities,” Greenfield said. “I think this corner is just another piece of that neighborhood’s success and we just want to be strong partners to help lead and convene the development of that property.”

There was one proposal submitted to a request for proposals in late 2023 that Invest DSM had worked on, but the financial gap for the project was too large to move forward with any formal review by the city, Carrie Kruse, the city’s economic development administrator, said in an email.

The proposal was for the development of a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use building that would be called The Commons at Highland Park. 

The project received a Workforce Housing Tax Credit from the state but even when combined with incentives available from the city it wasn’t enough to cover the financial gap, Kruse said.

She said redeveloping a site like the one at East Sixth and Euclid is “complex.”

“New construction in established neighborhood business districts must balance construction costs, financing realities, market rents, and community expectations,” Kruse said in an email. “While there is strong interest in seeing this corner redeveloped, the economics of mixed-use projects, especially those that include affordable or workforce housing, often require multiple funding sources, public incentives, and careful coordination.”

Max Garcia, president of the Highland Park-Oak Park Neighborhood Association, said that while there is a lack of parking in the neighborhood, residents and business owners don’t want to see a parking lot filling the empty space.

He said a mixed-use building would fit well, but he acknowledged the challenges in financing that kind of development.

“Something like a Main Street facade with affordable apartments above, parking spaces out front for customers and underground parking for residents and employees would be ideal,” Garcia said in an email.

Most of all, the neighborhood wants something that will complement the surrounding buildings and their history.

“We take a lot of pride in our older buildings and want something that is built with the same pride instead of a get-rich-quick structure designed to maximize the investor’s profits,” Garcia said.

Whatever goes there, Greenfield said it needs to contribute to the momentum that is already underway in the neighborhood.

“We’re really excited about the energy, the interest, the investment and the growth in the Highland Park-Oak Park neighborhood, and the private investment around those businesses has been pretty spectacular,” she said. “We’re looking forward to restarting those conversations with folks who are interested in that particular piece at Sixth and Euclid, and seeing if we can put a project together there and continue that momentum and excitement and continue to build a vibrant neighborhood.”