Oases foreclosure saga ends with new leasee

A new player now holds the dubious distinction of owning the long-term lease for the Illinois tollway's seven oases.

Private banker iStar Financial successfully bid $50 million to take over the remaining 17 years in a 25-year lease with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

The deal was announced in 2002 with great fanfare as an example of win-win public-private partnerships. Former leaseholder Wilton Partners agreed to rebuild the dilapidated, glass-covered rest stops and to manage operations. The company borrowed $83 million for the construction but started running into financial problems soon after. Wilton fell behind in its rent payments to the tollway and its lender iStar, which filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2009.

While New York City-based iStar holds the lease, it contracted with

U.S. Equities, a real estate and property management firm headquartered in Chicago, to run the day-to-day operations of the oases. That arrangement is expected to continue, tollway officials said.

Currently, there are multiple retail vacancies at oases and tollway directors are studying how to draw more customers to the rest stops.

The foreclosure auction was held Sept. 15.

Wilton also was linked to the corruption scandal surrounding former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, with concerns arising about favorable rents to politically connected restaurant owners. The company was a major donor to Blagojevich.