Rep. Gutierrez's Amazing Land Deal With Tony Rezko

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Rep. Luis Gutierrez got a deal on a riverfront town house built by Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a developer and prominent political fund-raiser now under indictment for an alleged kickback scheme involving state pension funds.

Gutierrez paid $434,900 three years ago for the town house along the Chicago River just north of Diversey. That's far less than his neighbors paid for any of the other riverfront town houses in the development, records show.

Gutierrez no longer lives there. In March, he sold the town house for $610,000 -- a 40 percent profit.

Only two other original owners have sold their riverfront town houses -- one paid $535,000 and sold it for $650,000, a 21 percent profit; the other paid $622,000 and sold it for $662,000, a 6 percent profit.


Gutierrez said he's been friends for 20 years with Rezko, whose family has donated more than $19,000 to the congressman's campaign funds over the years.

But the congressman said their friendship had nothing to do with him getting the cheapest price on any of the 17 riverfront town houses Rezko built, with everyone else paying between $495,000 and $660,000, in some cases for smaller homes.

This is the same Tony Rezko who had a land deal with none other than Barack Obama.