A door to the garage is big enough that a motorcycle can be rolled into the living room, and double insulation in the walls and ceiling make the house energy efficient and cut noise from the outdoors. While there’s no yard space, Schwarz said the new roof was built capable of supporting six inches of soil and a hefty deck.
The building, one of a pair built in 1982 on 18th Street by Del Rey Tortilleria, had been empty for several years before Roscoe and Schwarz bought it in 2014 for $195,000. Their building has a Carpenter Street address. The other building remains is still vacant, according to Schwarz.
In 2009, Del Rey agreed to shut down its soft tortilla business in the wake of a U.S. Attorney’s lawsuit alleging it was not complying with FDA regulations on keeping food free of contaminants. Its products were linked to outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in school children in Wisconsin and Massachusetts.
The building was still owned by Del Rey when Roscoe and Schwarz bought it in 2014, according to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
