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Disappointed with the result of a sealed bid process to find a buyer for the Arcade Building in Riverside, the bank servicing the mortgage on the vacant historic property at 1 Riverside Road has enlisted the services of a Chicago area real estate firm.
The asking price: $2.5 million.
Prinsbank, the Minnesota-based bank servicing the $2.9 million mortgage on the property, has hired the commercial real estate firm Lagestee-Mulder Realty to market the Arcade Building. The firm is based in South Holland, with a branch office in Hinsdale.
“That’s just a tad higher than we’d prefer right now,” said listing agent Scott Mladenik of Lagestee-Mulder regarding the asking price. “But the bank is one we’ve worked with before, and we’ll see what we can generate interest-wise.”
Mladenik, who is a Lyons native, said that part of his marketing strategy will be to reach out to previous bidders for the property, at least two of which continue to show interest.
“There are at least two who were in the bid process who are willing to pay a little more,” Mladenik said. “We’ll see if we can come to some common ground.”
Asked how motivated the bank is to sell the Arcade Building, Mladenik said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose such information, but said that the building continues to cost the bank money the longer it holds onto it.
“Their goal is to move it as quick as possible at a reasonable price,” Mladenik said. “They’re not looking to hit a home run on this property.”
At least one local resident, who pitched an offer for the Arcade Building to Prinsbank prior to the sealed bid process, thinks the $2.5 million asking price is far too high.
“I don’t see it even remotely working,” said Michael Flight, who owns Concordia Realty, a commercial real estate development and management company. Flight is also a member of Riverside Historical Commission.
“Even at $1.7 to $2 million it doesn’t work,” Flight said. “It needs about $800,000 just to get it back to rentable condition. That’s not first-class office space, it’s a white box for retail. I can’t see it worth as much as $1 million and that may be high.”
Flight said his company offered $350,000 for the building after figuring costs for renovation and buying the note from Prinsbank and foreclosing on Wextrust Capital, the former owner whose assets went into receivership as a result of a federal securities fraud lawsuit filed in August 2008.
Prinsbank was to send bid packets to all parties who showed interest in the property previously. Flight was not sent a bid packet.
According to Flight, the Arcade Building is by no means a lost cause and, once rehabbed, it could be a productive property again.
“The retail is rentable and there is a market for smaller office space in Riverside,” Flight said. “But I don’t think any of that can be supported by a $2 million purchase price.”