Chicago landlord Tadros files for bankruptcy with $22M mortgage at stake

Crown Commercial Real Estate and Development, run by Loop landlord Musa Tadros, filed for bankruptcy with a $22 million mortgage on the line.

Crown Commercial filed in the Northern District of Illinois on May 3, saying it has assets of less than $50,000, according to the filing. A lawyer for Tadros, who has run into financial difficulties in recent years, didn’t respond to a call for comment.

The company has $22.4 million in debt, almost all of which is due to a $22 million mortgage for the 250,000-square-foot Chatham Village Square shopping center at 87th street and S. Cottage Grove Ave. on the South Side. The mortgage is held by US Bank, which also didn’t respond to a call for comment.

Other debt includes credit cards, money owed to public utilities and contractor bills. The company has less than $50,000 in assets, according to the filing.

US Bank started foreclosure proceedings in February on the Chatham property, one of many in Chicago to face challenges during the pandemic. Tadros bought it in 2012 with a $27.5 million loan. It was then packaged into a CMBS offering, and its value dropped to $13.4 million from $38.7 million in 2012.

In December 2020, plans by Tadros to convert part of a Loop high-rise into co-living units fell apart while the lender filed a $22.8 million foreclosure suit against him, according to Crain’s.

Tadros sued the lender of the 41-story tower at 105 W. Adams St., accusing First Midwest of denying funds he needed to attract tenants, preventing him from selling the property and repaying his debt.

Tadros, born in Jordan, moved to Chicago with his family at the age of 10 and initially worked in his family’s grocery store, the Chicago Reporter reported in 2005. He later obtained a real estate license and started to develop property.