Within the next two weeks life will return to a former funeral home parlor near downtown Kankakee.

Dustin Kooy is set to begin the transformation of the 7,200-square-foot, long-abandoned former Rehr-Kaiser Funeral Home, at 408 S. Dearborn Ave., into a seven-unit, market-rate condominium immediately south of downtown Kankakee.

The funeral home once mainly served the Lutheran community. It is located at the southeast corner of South Dearborn Avenue and East Hickory Street.

Kooy purchased the empty two-story funeral home in 2022 for $43,000. He is targeting a nearly $940,000 rehab, of which the Kankakee City Council, through a just-adopted Tax Increment Financial agreement will assist with $200,000 of the redevelopment.

Kooy noted the city’s assistance has made this redevelopment project feasible.

He is more than eager to begin site work. “This has been a long time in coming.”

Per the agreement unanimously adopted by the Kankakee City Council, the project needs to be in “substantial compliance” with the development plan by no later than April 30, 2027.

Through the agreement, the city agreed to reimburse Kooy for up to $200,000 of eligible costs. Of that total, the city will provide $75,000 upon gaining the needed building permit.

Kooy is eyeing a six- to nine-month completion timeline, which will transform the 2nd Ward property inside and out and top to bottom.

Everything from electrical, to plumbing, to windows to roofing and gutters and siding will be completed.

There will even be a new parking lot, and as an added feature, charging stations for electric-powered vehicles are also being installed, he noted.

While some may applaud Kooy’s devotion to investing in Kankakee’s downtown in terms of housing, many may question his judgment.

He doesn’t flinch.

“I have no fear of the neighborhood properties. I do not have fear in what I am doing,” Kooy said in a previous interview with The Journal when announcing his plans for this property.

“If you provide a good product, good people will come. Without landlords and developers who see the opportunities here, this community will not change. This property has been a thorn in this neighborhood for far too long,” he said.

Kooy has purchased and developed several business sites within Kankakee. He has undertaken redevelopment projects also along South West Avenue as well as properties just north of the city’s downtown district.

For the South Dearborn project, some $102,000 is being targeted for plumbing; $86,500, electrical; $62,800, siding; $42,750, heating/air conditioning; and $114,600, framing, among other costs.