Orland Park Crossing is in Foreclosure

Hailed as an effort to bring more high-end retail to town in 2005, Orland Park Crossing brought Coldwater Creek, Omaha Steaks and Ann Taylor to LaGrange Road and 143rd Street.

Now the lifestyle center is in foreclosure, reports Chicago Real Estate Daily. The center has missed payments on its $16.9 million mortgage for the last nine months, and its appraised value has dropped by 50 percent to $10.2 million, according to the report. Revenue could not cover its $1 million monthly debt payment.

Orland Park Crossing was managed by retail developer Robert Perlmutter,  a senior manager with the Davis Street Land Co. The company lost control of the property last week when a Cook County judge appointed a receiver to take over the shopping center.

Orland Park officials said Wednesday that they were aware the property was struggling.

Development Services Director Karie Friling told Orland Park Patch the Davis Company asked to renegotiate a loan with its bank, and the bank declined.

But the company still owns a great deal of land from the original deal to develop the northeast corner of 143rd Street and LaGrange Road in two phases, Friling said. The first phase includes Starbucks, Panera and other retail shops and is the section that went into foreclosure.

No plans have been set to build as part of the second phase, which includes land north of 142nd Street, Friling said.

"We will work with the receiver and Davis to make sure (Orland Park Crossing) moves forward," Friling said.

Both Village Manager Paul Grimes and Friling said the tenants would not be affected by the foreclosure, and the businesses will stay open.

The shopping center's vacancy rate has been steady at 15 percent, according to Chicago Real Estate Daily.

Access to the shopping center is limited with one dedicated traffic light entrance on 143rd Street, east of LaGrange. There are plans to add a second traffic light to an entrance on LaGrange just north of 143rd, Grimes said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation makes the final call on adding the second traffic light and won't sign off on it until Orland Park finishes work on the intersection, Grimes said.

"We've been working for a number of years to get full access with a second traffic light," Grimes said. "Orland Park Crossing is a great facility and things like that will help in the long run. This is another case of the market downturn everywhere, though they opened up when the market was at its peak."

When the center opened in 2005, shoppers flocked to Ann Taylor, Talbots, Coldwater Creek, White House/Black Market and Francesca's Collections. Village officials touted Orland Park Crossing as a boost to its efforts to push forward the Main Street Triangle development across the street, which has seen its own misfortunes.

This latest real estate news comes as the Village of Orland Park struggles with the owners or the Orland Square Mall, which claims the value of its property has dropped dramatically.