Evanston Plaza Shopping Center to Go to Foreclosure Auction

The Evanston Plaza Shopping Center will go to foreclosure auction on May 3, according to an email sent out Saturday by Evanston City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.

In May, the Chicago-based Evanston Plaza owner, Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, surrendered the property to a court-appointed receiver as part of a $105 million foreclosure lawsuit with Bank of America Corp., after Freed used Evanston Plaza as cross-collateral to help finance the now-failed Block 37 project in downtown Chicago.

The shopping center has long been troubled. Stores such as Toys-R-Us, Kids-R-US, Blockbuster, two buffets, two pizza chains, two sandwich shops, GameStop, and Family Dollar are just a handful of the businesses that have left the plaza in the past two decades.

The Evanston Plaza suffered a huge loss in December when anchor store A.J. Wright announced it would close. hoping to convince the store to stay or convert to HomeGoods, but the rally made little impact.

The plaza is also at the intersection of Dempster Street and Dodge Avenue, an area that has a reputation for crime. Most recently, near the intersection. In January, an in his left shoulder after the suspect reportedly fired at a car carrying four teenagers and a 5-year-old boy.

Additionally, Dominick's, located on the south side of the center, , as that might interfere with Dominick’s customer’s ability to find a space. Gyms, bowling alleys, movie theaters and large restaurants are therefore not allowed to open in the center.

Evanston Patch will cover the foreclosure auction and bring you updates on the site as well as live updates on our Twitter feed. Stay tuned.