The Department may at such times as it deems expedient transfer and sell the fee simple title, or such lesser estate as the Department may have acquired, or as may theretofore have been acquired by a land clearance commission, to all or any part of the real property within the area of a redevelopment project not disposed of in accordance with Sections 15, 16, and 17 hereof to (1) Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporations operating under the “Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation Law,” approved July 9, 1941, as amended, (2) Insurance Companies operating under Section 125a of the “Illinois Insurance Code,” approved June 29, 1937, as amended, (3) any individual, association, or corporation, organized under the laws of this State or of any other State or country, which may legally make such investments in this State, including foreign and alien insurance companies, as defined in Section 2 of said “Illinois Insurance Code”, or (4) bodies politic and corporate, public corporations, or any private interest empowered by law to acquire, develop and use such real property for such uses, public or private, as are in accordance with an approved plan; provided, however, that any sale of real property to a housing authority shall be made only in accordance with the provisions of Sections 16 and 17 hereof. To assure that the real property so sold is used in accordance with the approved plan referred to in Section 19 hereof, the Department shall inquire into and satisfy itself concerning the financial ability of the purchaser to complete the redevelopment in accordance with the approved plan and shall require the purchaser to execute in writing such undertakings as the Department may deem necessary to obligate the purchaser: (1) to use the land for the purposes designated in the approved plan, (2) to commence and complete the building of the improvements within the periods of time which the Department fixes as reasonable, and (3) to comply with such other conditions as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Any such area may be sold either as an entirety or in such parcels as the Department shall deem expedient. It shall not be necessary that title be acquired to all real property within the area of a redevelopment project before the sale of a part thereof may be made as provided herein. Any real property sold pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Section shall be sold at its use value (which may be less than its acquisition cost), which represents the value at which the Department determines such land should be made available in order that it may be developed or redeveloped for the purposes specified in the approved plan.
     Any real property lying within the area of the redevelopment project which has not been sold by the Department within five years after the Department has acquired title to all the real property within the area of that redevelopment project, shall be forthwith sold by the Department at public sale for cash to the highest bidder obligating himself in the manner set forth in the preceding paragraph of this Section to redevelop the property in accordance with the approved plan. Notice of such sale and of the place where the approved plan may be inspected shall be published once in a newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality in which the real property is situated at least twenty (20) days prior to the date of such public sale, and shall contain a description of the real property to be sold.
     The Department may reject the bids received if, in the opinion of the Department, the highest bid does not equal or exceed the use value (as hereinabove defined) of the land to be sold. At the expiration of six (6) months from the date of rejecting bids, the Department shall again advertise for sale any real property then remaining unsold. Each publication shall be subject to the same requirements and conditions as the original publication.