February 25, 2010 – Anymore there seems to be at least one fairly well-known Chicago real estate project in financial trouble every month, if not more often. The most recent this week is the Lofts At Lakeview Collection. This development from Centrum properties has been hit with a foreclosure suit filed by Wachovia Bank N.A., according to a Crain’s report.

The lender is seeking reimbursement for the $18.2 million it is owed from a 2005 loan to Centrum with the company used to buy the building site. Centrum had obtained at least a couple of extensions on the loan, which they defaulted on in April ’09 and then failed to pay back in full when it came due in January ’10.

Centrum’s Sol Barket told Crain’s that they are trying to work something out with the lender or else find another source of funding. Wachovia is now part of Wells Fargo, the article stated, and no spokesperson was available to comment on the lawsuit or efforts to restructure the loan.

The Lofts At Lakeview Collection started out as being a 130 Chicago condo project with an estimated construction price tag of about $100 million. It was then changed to an apartment development plan before the foreclosure suit was filed. If Centrum can find a way out of this foreclosure, they intend to drop the residential portion completely and just focus on the development being a retail one with around 100,000 square feet of commercial space.

Mr. Barket stated that, “We think it’s much more financeable,” to make it a retail only project.

The article reports that a lease has already been signed by CVS for about 13,000 square feet of space and Bank of America has signed on for 7,500 square feet as well.

Remember that there are still plenty of Chicago lofts for sale even without the Lofts at Lakeview Collection.

[tags]The Lofts At Lakeview Collection, Chicago Lofts, Chicago Real Estate[/tags]

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 7:19 pm and is filed under Mortgage Information.