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DIXON – The former Sauk Commons housing complex is back online with a new name and a new owner.
The Sauk Valley Community College Board recently approved road access and sewer treatment agreements for Westridge Apartments, 1608 Sauk Road, which is part of Kris Brantley’s Northridge Properties.
Tax-free revenue bonds were used to build the $7 million facility that opened in fall 2005 with 144 beds across 48 apartments in two buildings for Sauk students. It closed its doors in May 2016 after failing to be financially viable.
Sauk President Dave Hellmich said one of the buildings is open and has some students housed there, although it’s open to anyone to rent, not just students.
The college has no financial responsibilities tied to the property.
Available apartments have two bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as access to a laundry room, basketball court and a grill pavilion.
The facility was in foreclosure and was sold for $620,000 at a sheriff’s auction in June by Anthony Cantone, a New Jersey developer. Shortly after, it was sold for $500,000 to a land trust, Dark Land Trust 1, under trustee Thomas D. Murray, a Dixon attorney.
The original developer walked away from the project, and the college’s foundation set up the nonprofit Sauk Valley Student Housing LLC to take ownership of the complex, but finances didn’t improve as it was difficult to fill the apartments.
In 2011, the nonprofit filed for bankruptcy protection, and 2 years later the complex was sold to United Housing and Community Services Corp., a nonprofit based in Los Angeles, and it was managed by BMOC Inc. of Madison, Wisconsin.
Commons timeline
2005 – $7 million complex built, opens in fall
2011 – Sauk Valley Student Housing, an LLC set up by the school's foundation, files bankruptcy
2013 – United Housing and Community Services Corporation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, buys complex
2013 – Sterling City Council rejects request to take out bonds to help refinance building
2015 – Owner enters foreclosure proceedings
2016 – Last students leave May 15, and building is boarded up the next week
2018 – New Jersey developer Anthony Cantone purchases the property at auction for $620,000 and sells it to a land trust managed by Thomas D. Murray for $500,000. The complex becomes Westridge Apartments under Northridge Properties.
2019 – The Sauk Board approves agreements to provide sewer treatment and road access for the apartments