The financial institution servicing the mortgage on the Arcade Building in Riverside is seeking sealed bids for the property at 1 Riverside Road, a fact that is making some on the Riverside village board nervous that a sale might be advancing too quickly.

On Monday night, on the suggestion of Trustee James Reynolds, the village board will draft a letter to PrinsBank, asking it to delay the bid deadline.

“This should certainly have red lights going off in our heads,” Reynolds said. “I’d like to ask trustees to consider talking to the bank to postpone the bid process so notice can be put out to others.”

The Landmark has obtained a copy of the letter and bid requirements sent by Joe DeGroot, an asset manager at PrinsBank in Prinsburg, Minn., to parties who have shown interest in the property. According to the letter, all bids are due by May 15.

Such a short turnaround time will not allow parties who might be interested in the property, but who don’t necessarily know about the impending sale, to put together a bid.

A week ago, the Arcade Building was named one of the state’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Places by Landmarks Illinois. Such exposure would open the building to potential bidders who may not have been aware of the building, said Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga, a member of the village’s Preservation Commission who wrote the application for the building to be considered for the Landmarks Illinois list.

That was echoed by Charles Pipal, chairman of the Preservation Commission, who said he supported the board’s action.

“It’s in the bank’s best interest to get the property well advertised and get together a coherent bid process,” Pipal said, ” especially if people are putting together a partnership or trying to get financing. I’m surprised at the speed with which they want to proceed.

Pipal suggested that waiting even just two more weeks, until the end of May, would help.

“I believe they would have more offers for potentially more money,” Pipal said.

While trustees agreed to Reynolds’ request, President Michael Gorman expressed doubt that the bank would be swayed by a letter. Gorman said he spoke with a representative from the bank and that the bank was not interested in slowing down the process.

“They are going to do what they want to do, and they want to do it on the cheap,” Gorman said.

Village Manager Kathleen Rush said that the village did have other possible strategies to influence the sale of the Arcade Building – eminent domain or becoming a bidder itself.

“We may have to consider either of those,” Reynolds said. “But let’s start with the letter.”

Any party who has contacted the bank about the Arcade Building in the past will be sent a letter outlining the bid procedure, said DeGroot.

Asked who had contacted him about the building, DeGroot said that the parties were local.

“They all have good intentions for the building,” DeGroot said.

But Reynolds reported Monday that some people who asked to be contacted about the sale had not received a bid packet, making it unclear just who was sent information.

The property will be sold “as-is,” according to the letter sent to potential buyers, and all bidders must submit $20,000 as a bid deposit. Deposits will be returned to unsuccessful bidders.

DeGroot confirmed Tuesday morning that the mortgage holder did have the deed to the property. As late as last week, the bank had still not received the deed, even though a federal judge in New York approved the transfer of the property to the mortgage holder back on Feb. 20.

The mortgage holder is a company called Cap Financial CV3 LLC, which purchased the $2.9 million mortgage in July from Amcore Bank. Cap Financial CV3 is connected to PrinsBank.

Once the deed has been transferred, DeGroot said that “we’re going to do a bid process” for the property.

“It’ll probably be pretty quick,” said DeGroot of the bank’s desire to sell the property. “The building has sat in its current state for long enough.”

The Arcade Building has been vacant since Jan. 1 and its future has been uncertain since August, when it became part of the Wextrust federal securities fraud lawsuit. A subsidiary of Wextrust purchased the Arcade Building in December 2004 for $3.1 million.

Anyone interested in contacting DeGroot about the building can contact PrinsBank at 320-978-6351.