Downtown Arlington Heights development for sale

Arlington Town Square, the downtown Arlington Heights retail and office development that includes Star Cinema Grill, Starbucks and LOFT, is for sale.

Mission Capital Advisors is selling the property for an unnamed lending company that's owned the property since 2010, when the previous owner, DBSI, defaulted on a $19.8 million loan and the property went into foreclosure.

The sale won't create any changes for customers, at least in the short term, said Will Sledge, managing director and head of commercial assets for Mission Capital Advisors.

“If anything, it will be a good thing for the center and the tenants, because someone who understands retail will own it,” he said. “When you sell a deal like this ... you sell it to someone who lives and breathes retail and knows what retailers want. They're putting it in the hands of someone who can really build on what is there and address any issues it has.”

The current owners were merely trying to stabilize it so they could sell it, he added.

No price tag is listed. Sledge said the development appraised for roughly $24 million last year.

The final date for bids is June 21.

“I think there will be a lot of interest,” Sledge said, noting that the development is 84 percent occupied.

Arlington Town Square, at 21 S. Evergreen Ave., was built in 1999 on a 3.6-acre site near Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway, a block from the Arlington Heights Metra station. It includes 32 retail spaces, eight office spaces, and a six-screen movie theater.

The 136,585-square-foot development was considered by the village to be a catalyst for downtown redevelopment and received $13.9 million in tax increment financing money, according to a 2010 Crain's Chicago Business story. About $10 million of that went to build the underground garage, which is owned and operated by the village, Crain's reported.

Before the redevelopment, the site generated $65,000 annually in property taxes. By 2010, it was receiving between $1.7-$1.8 million in property tax revenues, the story reported.

Former owners DBSI were the subject of a Ponzi scheme scandal, and several of its executives were sentenced to prison for committing securities fraud, according to the Crain's Chicago Business story.