New owner for Pheasant Run Mega Center?
While the owners of the Pheasant Run Resort were not successful in selling the financially struggling establishment through an online auction, the Pheasant Run Mega Center apparently will have a new owner.
"The city is aware the property is under contract, but we are not at liberty to share additional information at this point," St. Charles City Planner Ellen Johnson said in an email.
Speculation is that a car dealership has purchased the 35,000-square-foot Mega Center, which opened in 1985 and served as an event space for Pheasant Run. Pheasant Run Resort is set to take its last reservations on Feb. 29 and close its doors March 1.
An online auction to sell the resort took place Feb. 10-12. The final bid was $6 million, which did not meet the minimum selling price established by the seller. The auction did not include the sale of the Mega Center or the 18-hole golf course.
Colliers International real estate services and investment management company previously had listed Pheasant Run as being for sale on its website.
During the recession in 2011, the 293-room resort at 4051 E. Main St. went into foreclosure. A hotel investors group in 2014 bought Pheasant Run, which since then has been managed by Schaumburg-based Hostmark Hospitality Group.
Meanwhile, Zurko Promotions is now trying to find new locations for the shows that were set to take place at the Mega Center, including the Coin Op and Advertising Show set for Aug. 1 and 2, the Chicago Pop Culture Con 2020 set for Nov. 28 and 29, and the Holiday Horror Con 2020 on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29.
"All they're telling me is they are not scheduling any shows at this time," owner Bob Zurko said.
Zurko Promotions has been putting on shows at the Mega Center for about three years.
"It was a fabulous location," Zurko said. "It was easily accessible."
People can go to Zurko Promotions' website at zurkopromotions.com to find out where the shows have been relocated.
Pheasant Run Resort generates between $500,000 and $600,000 in tax revenue for the city, St. Charles City Administrator Mark Koenen previously had said. City officials have voiced concerns about the loss of revenue if Pheasant Run closed.
"There would be a big hole in the budget," St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina has said. "You would have to find something to close that hole."
Rogina has said the city wants to work with the resort's owner or "any developer that comes in there to retool or restructure the property."
He noted that across the street from Pheasant Run, Fox Valley Volkswagen in recent years moved to the site of the former DuPage Expo Center.
"It was a very nice conversion," Rogina said.