‘It is a milestone’: Sale near for final piece Libertyville Sports Complex site
The last of five parcels that constituted the former Libertyville Sports Complex is being sold.
Libertyville officials are expected Tuesday to approve the sale of 2.77 acres at the northeast corner of Route 45 and Peterson Road for $988,000.
Best remembered as the longtime site of Aloha Falls mini-golf course, it was one of three components of the 48-acre former sports complex that opened in June 2002.
Buyer Empsafe LLC intends to apply for zoning changes to build a retail center with a restaurant on the site. Empsafe owns other commercial properties in town, including the Shops at Northwind center nearby, according to the village.
Over the years, the 169,000-square-foot indoor complex with multiple sports courts and other amenities held its own. But the associated golf learning center, 19-acre driving range and Aloha Falls fell short of expectations.
Operations had long been a financial drain and the village worked for years to unload the properties.
“We are very happy we were able to find a purchaser,” said Mayor Donna Johnson of the planned sale. “It is a milestone.”
Canlan Sports began operating the indoor complex in July 2021 and bought the facility in 2023.
The driving range was sold in 2022 to Midwest Industrial Funds Inc., since rebranded MWI Property Group, and has been developed with two industrial/warehouse buildings.
The mini-golf course was to have been part of that package and developed as a gas station. However, that idea was dropped due to access issues and the mini-golf course was separated from the Midwest sale.
The sale followed site development by MWI that included stormwater and utility work and an internal road system with direct access to all the parcels within.
“We knew it would be more marketable for development,” said Heather Rowe, Libertyville’s community development director.
The sale price of $988,000 is within legal provisions requiring it to be least 80% of the appraised value of $1.21 million, Rowe said, and there is no broker fee.
The sales agreement will be considered at the village board meeting beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday at village hall, 118 W. Cook Ave.