JJC never got paid for Centennial Commons deal

Joliet Junior College never was paid for the land it sold in 2001 to the college’s foundation for the construction of Centennial Commons.

The JJC Foundation last week lost control of the student housing complex when it was put under the management of a court-appointed receiver sought by the holders of $14.4 million in bonds that also have not been paid.

The college is owed $1,075,932, the price set for the 15 acres on the edge of the JJC campus when it was sold.

“It was supposed to be paid back from profits from Centennial Commons,” JJC board Chairman Robert Wunderlich said. “The college never got a dime.”

Centennial Commons never generated the revenue JJC and foundation officials envisioned when the apartments were built under an arrangement that bypassed restrictions barring community colleges from owning and operating student housing.

Instead of JJC being the landlord, the foundation, which raises money for the college and its students, would own and operate the apartments under an affiliated entity set up to oversee Centennial Commons.

JJC officials at the time believed the apartments could be filled with students who wanted to live closer to campus, potentially drawing in students from outside the district who would establish residency at Centennial Commons. The college even had aspirations for an international student program.

The rents would cover the cost of operations, pay off the $14.3 million in bonds that financed construction, and generate the $1 million to pay JJC for the land.

But the venture into student housing didn’t work. When the receiver took control on Thursday, three of the six buildings were not even being used because they are in need of repairs.

The profits that were to pay for the land and the bonds never came.

“The college has never made any money from that and neither has the foundation,” said Kristin Mulvey, executive director of institutional advancement at JJC.

Because it was never paid for the land, JJC has a lien on Centennial Commons, Wunderlich said. But he does not expect the college to see the $1 million the foundation was to have paid for the land.

“We’re the second lien holder on the property,” he said. “The first lien holder is the bond company.”

The $14.4 million in bonds would have to be paid off before JJC would see any money from the sale of land for Centennial Commons.