Yahoo! News reports: Despite Lincoln Park retail boom, LLJ working through $10M loan default TRD Staff Sun, May 10, 2026 at 8:30 PM GMT+5:30 3 min read Strolling down Lincoln Park’s Armitage Avenue lately, you’d be hard-pressed to find many empty storefronts. Retailers are flocking to Chicago’s spendy North Side, cementing the high-street corridor as a premier playground for boutiques and digitally native brands establishing a brick-and-mortar presence. Even in a booming real estate scene, however, there’s a little distress for those who know where to look.
This week’s head-scratcher comes from The Armitage Collection at 1123-1131 West Armitage Avenue. Word in financial trenches is that the borrower, San Diego-based property investment firm LLJ Ventures, tripped up on a Jan. 6 maturity date, defaulting on nearly $10 million it still owes on a loan against the 33,000-square-foot property.
Background
Public loan data from last month reveals the commercial mortgage-backed security debt’s special servicer, PNC Bank-owned Midland Loan Services, is prepping a foreclosure complaint, as well as a request for receivership to start the process of taking title to the property. The loan was taken out by LLJ in late 2015. But Midland is also leaving the door open to keeping the keys in LLJ’s hands.
Key facts
- Even in a booming real estate scene, however, there’s a little distress for those who know where to look.
- This week’s head-scratcher comes from The Armitage Collection at 1123-1131 West Armitage Avenue.
- Word in financial trenches is that the borrower, San Diego-based property investment firm LLJ Ventures, tripped up on a Jan.
What this means
The special servicer is considering a loan modification that could give the landlord more time to repay the debt, while keeping the threat of foreclosure an option during negotiations over terms of the workout. Reached by phone Friday, LLJ’s Flavio Borquez said the firm is close to an agreement with Midland that would give the landlord some more runway with the property, and expects to avoid a formal foreclosure process. He declined to share details of the potential terms of the agreement.
Here’s where the tea leaves get cryptic for opportunistic buyers: Chicago-based brokerage Mid-America Real Estate since September has been shopping the property for sale on behalf of LLJ, asking $10.5 million, according to a marketing flyer. The property looks stable on paper, as it’s pulling in nearly $738,000 in yearly net operating income and boasts a 9.4-year weighted average lease term. It’s anchored by The Goddard School, which just inked a 10-year renewal to take its stay through September 2036, and rounded out by trendy lifestyle tenants like high-end fitness club Studio Lagree, Armitage Allergy & Asthma Associates and luxury pet wellness studio Bowie Barker.
Originally reported by Yahoo! News. This story has been edited and re-presented by BRIC Team.
