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Archive for March 18th, 2008

‘Fair deal’ means nearly $1m gain

Add comment March 18th, 2008

In February, Melissa Westphal reported that Heartland Community Church was buying back its old location at 601 N. Perryville Road because its new home, the old Colonial Village Mall, couldn’t accomodate its rapidly growing membership.

Heartland sold the Perryville Road building to the area’s largest car dealer, Anderson Automotive Group of Rockford, last year for $4.1 million. Anderson officials said the building was not for an auto dealership, but more of an investment property.

When contacted, Mark Bankord, the church’s directional leader, would not disclose the purchase price but called it a “fair deal.”

Few deals stay secret forever, though, and according to the Winnebago County Recorder’s Office, which recorded the sale Feb. 28, Heartland paid $5 million to get the property back. For Anderson Automotive it was a very fair deal. A $900,000 profit in less than a year is good in any business.

More interesting numbers

Add comment March 18th, 2008

In 2007, for the first time ever, more shopping was done outside of the city of Rockford in the Rock River Valley.

The Illinois Department of Revenue released its year-end statistics this week and it showed a tough year for Rockford retailers. The amount of retail sales tax revenue being returned to the city was $24.7 million, down 1.9 percent from 2006.

In contrast, the amount of retail sales going to regional municipalities increased from $24.4 million in 2006 to $25 million in 2007.

Of course, this was inevitable. Cities such as Belvidere, Poplar Grove and Roscoe are among the fastest growing in northern Illinois and retailers are building where the people are going. Illinois 173 is among the fastest growing retail corridors in the state and 2007 saw the opening of a lifestyle center at CherryVale Mall.