Have you got a cool million or two and a burning desire to live next door to President Barack Obama? You may be in luck.

The empty lot next to Obama‘s Chicago home is for sale.

“We reached out to the Obamas through his curator and the Secret Service to see if he wanted to purchase it first and they declined,” said @properties agent Anthony Rouches.

While it’s not been formally listed, Rouches said his clients are hoping to get $899,000 for the corner lot at 5050 South Greenwood Avenue, which they bought in March 2008 for $675,000.

“We‘re just testing the market to see what kind of interest there is in it,” he told AFP. “There haven’t been too many presidents with a piece of land next to their house for sale.”

The house on the other side of the Obama home sold two years ago for $1.4 million, which was considered to be significantly higher than the market rate.

The empty double lot is currently being maintained by the Secret Service, which has also barricaded the street to prevent anyone but residents and their guests from entering.

Obama and his family rarely spend the night there.

Rouches noted the value will also be boosted by the fact that there are so few “buildable lots” in the historic Kenwood neighborhood on Chicago‘s South Side.

He thinks it will likely end up being purchased by someone who wants to build a single family home, but it could also be a good site for luxury townhomes.

The empty lot has caused controversy for Obama in the past.

Tony Rezko, a former fundraiser for Obama and other prominent Illinois politicians, purchased the lot after Obama bought his home in 2005 and later sold Obama a portion of the land.

Rezko is currently serving time in prison on fraud and bribery charges as part of the federal investigation which led to the conviction of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges.

Obama was not implicated in the scandal. (AFP)

<관련 한글 기사>

오바마 대통령이 내 옆집에 산다면?

지난 6일 재선에 성공한 미국 버락 오바마 대통령의 이웃이 될 수 있는 기회가 생겼다.

현재 시카고에 위치한 오바마의 자택 옆 부지가 새 주인을 찾고 있는 것

부동산 중개인 안토니 루치스(Anthony Rouches)는 “보좌관과 재무부를 통해 오바마 대통령이 그 부지를 구입할 의사가 있는지 물었으나 거절했다”고 말했다.

사우스 그린 우드 에비뉴(South Greenwood Avenue)에 위치한 이 부지는 아직 부동산 매물로 내놓지는 않았지만, 현재 주인은 899,000달러(약 9억 7천 만원)에 팔리길 희망하며 2008년 3월에 구매할 당시에 675,000달러 (약 7억 3천 만원)를 지불한 것으로 알려졌다.

루치스는 “지금까지 역대 대통령 자택의 바로 옆 부지가 매매로 나온 사례는 드물다”고 말했다.

2년 전 오바마 대통령 자택의 반대편에 위치한 집은 140만 달러(약 15억)에 팔린 바 있으며, 이는 시세보다 휠씬 높이 책정된 가격이었다.

오바마 대통령과 가족들이 이 시카고 집에서 잠을 자는 일은 드문 것으로 알려졌다.