Bruce Rushton
The Illinois Times
Town and Country shopping center, one of the largest tracts of retail space on the MacArthur Boulevard corridor, will be turned over to a lender that has filed foreclosure, according to an attorney for an ownership group that includes developer Corky Joyner and Jim Zerkle, Springfield corporation counsel.
According to foreclosure papers filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court, JP Morgan Chase Bank loaned $13.65 million to the owners in 2015. The bank since has assigned its interest to a trust, according to the lawsuit, and the owners haven’t made payments since January.
Sgro said the matter is to be resolved within a month.
“The Town and Country Shopping Center is being remitted to its lender by agreement,” Sgro wrote in an emailed statement. “The center has experienced significant vacancy due to the general decline in storefront retail, both locally and nationally.”
Between vacant space, the property includes a dollar store, a Chuck E. Cheese and headquarters for the Illinois State Board of Elections. The state is the largest tenant, according to Sgro, and is more than $100,000 behind on rent.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin said that foreclosure might not be a bad thing.
“There’s been some long-term dissatisfaction with the ownership of Town and Country shopping center,” McMenamin said.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 