Geneva Dunkin' Donuts sold for unpaid property taxes

Don't plan on getting a doughnut and a latte from Geneva's east side Dunkin' Donuts any time soon, as it was sold for $11,529.58 in unpaid property taxes, Kane County records show.

State Street Coffee LLC - an entity of The Hari Group of Naperville, which owns 206 E. State St., Geneva - failed to pay its property taxes for 2020, records show.

Equity One Investment Fund of Sugar Grove paid them on Nov. 21, 2021, at the annual tax sale, according to a spokesman for the Kane County Treasurer's Office.

The tax sale process gives the original owner two years to redeem the property from the tax sale by paying Equity One Investment Fund. The property's owner has until Nov. 21, 2023, to do that, the spokesman said.

If the owner does not redeem the property within the two-year period, Equity One Investment Fund would have to go to court to get the deed, the spokesman said.

City spokesman Kevin Stahr stated in an email that officials were recently informed that Dunkin' had secured its permit from the Illinois Department of Transportation and was in the process of finding contractors to complete the remaining work.

A voice mail message left at Equity One was not returned. Raj Patel of The Hari Group in Naperville, developer of the Dunkin' Donuts, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

State Street Coffee LLC bought the 206 E. State St. property for $715,000 on March 21, 2019, according to county property records. The property had been a former gas station, shuttered since 2014.

In 2018, the Geneva City Council approved special use zoning for the Dunkin' to have a drive-thru, with Mayor Kevin Burns breaking the 5-5 tie vote.

Aldermen had already approved a development incentive package for Dunkin' Donuts with a $70,000 grant and a sales tax rebate up to $102,000.

But the economic development incentive is not payable until after the project receives a certificate of occupancy from the city, officials said, as it was structured as a reimbursement.