Savvy Restaurateurs Grab Slice of Bronzeville

CHICAGO-Developers and restaurateurs Leon and Sam Toia have a knack for finding the hot areas before the rest of the pack, and setting up one of their Leona’s Pizzerias. Their latest venture, however, is into an area that’s hot enough to bake a thin-crust pizza.

The community development commission recommended approval of a $70,000 break on the purchase price of two city-owned lots in the Bronzeville Tax Increment Financing District. If no alternative proposals are received, Toia Building Properties LP will acquire a long-vacant 6,000-sf building and more than a half-acre at 235-49 E. 31st St. and 301-09 E. 31st St. for $600,000—the city got an appraisal for $670,000. The Toias will renovate the building and provide on-site parking in a $1.5-million project, according to the department of planning and development.

“We’re assuming we can make up the $70,000 very quickly,” says department of planning and development assistant commissioner Cheryl Cooke. Besides failing to pay property taxes, the previous owner also had federal income tax problems, she notes.