CHICAGO-Rockwell Partners has been hired as the court-appointed receiver for the 26-story mixed-use Streeterville Center at 233 E. Erie in the downtown. Dallas-based Lone Star Funds bought the unpaid $8 million note on the property after borrower Chicago Futures Inc. defaulted, and the foreclosure process is ongoing.

The property was built in the 1970s, and Pantelis Kotslopoulos, founder of Chicago Futures, was one of the first investors in when it was later converted to 151 residential condos on the top floors and about 69,000 square feet of medical office and retail on the bottom floors. Chicago Futures had a loan with Citibank, but could not pay following the recession, forcing the note sale. Sources say the building has been poorly maintained with numerous condo resident complaints.

Ted Thilman, managing principal at Rockwell, tells GlobeSt.com that the property is about 82% occupied by tenants ranging up to 5,400 square feet. “The building is in a great area, right across from Northwestern Memorial Hospital,” he says. “The retail portion is vacant, that’s the first thing we’re working on.”

He says the building isn’t that troubled, that it is a respectable property, which is where Thilman says his firm is starting to see more receivership activity. “Distress doesn’t seem to be slowing down,” he says. “In general, though, we’re starting to get higher quality assets. The real dogs have been cycled through the process, and the lenders have disposed of them. Now we’re starting to see some of the better assets that were able to barely keep afloat after the recession. I think they had hoped the economy would come back by now, but the bad market has lingered.”

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Rockwell Named Receiver for 26-Story Streeterville

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