North Shore Bank & Trust, an Illinois-based bank, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Feb. 17 against the owners of the Fox Run Shopping Center, located at Sunset Drive and West St. Paul Avenue, on the city's southwest side for just under $4.7 million.
Those listed in the suit are Waukesha LNR LLC; 2300 W. St. Paul LLC; NKASS Company LLC; and Waukesha BT LLC.
According to court documents, Waukesha LNR and Waukesha BT took out a $5.6 million loan from North Shore Bank & Trust for property at 2300 W. St. Paul Ave. and at W. Sunset Drive in 2005.
The loan was amended to $4.91 million in May 2010, court documents state.
The promissory note matured on July 10, 2013, and the companies went into default, court documents state.
As of Aug. 5, 2013, $4.67 million was still owed on the loan. The foreclosure documents say the bank is owed $4.64 million in principal balance, $22,339 in interest and $3,977 in late charges.
The bank has the right to sell the property six months after a judgment is made by the court, according to the affidavit.
The Fox Run Shopping Center, which has seen stores move out in recent years, now just includes a Chase Bank, a Sentry grocery store and a Denny's.
The 109,326-square-foot shopping center is on more than 11.22 acres and an additional 1.78 acre parcel is available. Mid-America Real Estate Wisconsin LLC of Milwaukee is the leasing agent for the center. It has put the center up for sale.
Dan Rosenfeld of Mid-America said he couldn't comment on the foreclosure or anything related to the Fox Run Shopping Center. A flier on the sale of the shopping center indicated the asking price was negotiable.
According to Mid-America, there is 66,950-square-feet of available space at the center, and 2,430-square-feet in drive-through space.
In 2012, it paid $92,284 in taxes and the property was assessed at $4.42 million.
The shopping center includes 556 parking stalls.
The center is just off West Sunset Drive and west of Genesee Road, along the Fox River.
City of Waukesha Planner Jennifer Andrews said there was previously a Tru Value for many years and an Associated Bank branch in the Fox Run Shopping Center. Andrews said there was also a dry-cleaner and a hair salon and a Bannercraft store at one time.
Andrews said there are no formal plans at this time for redeveloping the site.
"We look forward to the center having additional tenants to fill the vacant spaces or to see it redeveloped in the future," Andrews said.
Andrews declined to comment on the foreclosure suit.
Mayor Jeff Scrima said that over the last couple of years the city has reached out to potential developers to redevelop the site.
He added other areas in the city have improved from a redevelopment standpoint.
"We are here to assist the private sector in redeveloping this location — just like we helped redevelop the dilapidated Grand Avenue strip mall into the new Carroll University dorms, and the vacant concrete plant along Highway 164 into the Woodman's Food Market," Scrima said. "We are optimistic about the future of Fox Run."
Waukesha NOW poll question: Are the vacancies in the Fox Run Shopping Center most concerning to you or are there other areas in the city that need to be addressed first?