The FFC building in downtown Oak Park faces foreclosure on the first three floors, most of which is leased by a health club. The ground floor commercial space is currently vacant. Pending foreclosure status only pertains to the commercial zone from 1114 to 1126 Lake Street and does not apply to resident-owned condominiums in the building.
Wilmington Trust, a financial services firm, has filed for foreclosure
The 63,317-square-foot commercial property in February after the building’s ownership defaulted on its mortgage. The property is owned by 1120 Retail LLC, an entity with whom he signed a $12.8 million mortgage deal in 2017.
The property will be put up for online auction next month. Bidding starts at $4.5 million. The auction will begin on October 17th and will continue until October 19th.
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Its façade is undergoing restoration, although the auction listing states it is “well maintained”. Village of Oak Park’s building chief executive, Steve Kutyre, told the Journal Wednesday in the summer that the concrete panels that covered the building’s exterior were replaced with a new material that resembled the original exterior. said there is.
“They were cracking,” Kutaiah said of the concrete panels. “And the glue was kind of off the glue.”
Much of the scaffolding has been removed, but repair work has dragged on as new materials have arrived and are damaged. Construction workers are waiting for the delivery of new materials to finish the job.
NAI Ferbman serves as the court-appointed trustee for this property. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a recipient is a neutral third-party custodian appointed to protect property under the control of someone being sued. The SEC recommends appointing a trustee when a company or individual threatens to dissipate or waste company property or assets. A representative for NAI Ferbman said the company was not involved in the property auction.
The legal entity that currently owns this property is managed by a separate legal entity, 1120 Retail Inc. Its president is listed as Antonio Ballard. The Wednesday Journal reached out to Vallado for comment. The WSJ also asked FFC management for comment on how the property’s legal status affects lease agreements.
A foreclosure application is just one of many legal disputes involving buildings. Since its construction in 2006, the building has been the subject of a series of lawsuits. The Building Condominium Association sued 1120 Retail LLC, and developers Richard Curto and Trapani Construction, in 2009 for reported shoddy construction.
Condominium Association as Wednesday Journal previously reportedwas forced to take out loans and impose special valuations on condo owners to make repairs to the building. At the time, these repairs were estimated to cost over $1.5 million. It was leaked.
Curto’s company, RSC & Associates, was also sued by the Village of Oak Park in 2009 for poor construction of the building. The lawsuit alleges that the developer had failed to meet the guidelines of his 2004 redevelopment agreement, under which the Village of Oak Park gave the developer property in the village for its demolition and restoration. reimbursed the cost of
RSC & Associates was sued by Brandenburg Family Associates in 2007. The company had paid him $1.5 million to purchase commercial space in the building, but the deal never went through. The lawsuit alleged that the down payment was not returned to Brandenburg Family Associates.
With about $5.9 million in outstanding debt, Kurt filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
The commercial portion of the building was about 74 percent occupied as of this August, according to online auction listings, but 1120 Retail LLC is struggling to keep tenants in the ground floor retail space. Lost a major tenant in 2019 Closure of Bar Louie restaurantBruegger’s Bagels and Mattress Firm also rank among the building’s previous ground floor tenants.
A year and a half after Bar Louie closed, the Oak Park Zoning Board of Appeals voted to allow 1120 Retail LLC to convert the ground floor into coworking office space.Vallado hinted at the company’s financial difficulties at the time. zoning board meeting September 17, 2020.
“We were having trouble renting space,” Ballard told ZBA. “We’re in trouble at the bank right now.”
