CHICAGO -- Lakeshore Athletic Clubs faces a $26.9 million foreclosure lawsuit on one of its Chicago clubs.
Crain’s Chicago Business reports that a venture owned by Lakeshore Athletic Clubs founders Walter and Jordon Kaiser has not made a monthly mortgage payment of $135,000 on its 120,000-square-foot Illinois Center club since September. The lawsuit was filed in Cook County (IL) Circuit Court last month.
The venture also began falling behind on payments on a $33.5 million loan for its Lincoln Park club last summer and has not paid the mortgage for that club since August, reports Crain’s, citing data compiled by Bloomberg LP.
Lakeshore Centre Holdings LLC, parent company of Lakeshore Athletic Clubs, has closed two of its Chicago clubs in recent years, including its 56,351-square-foot Streeterville club at McClurg Court Center in May 2009. Five months prior to the closing, the company settled an eviction lawsuit that alleged more than $250,000 in rent was unpaid, Crain’s reported. The club opened in 2002.
At the time of the closing, Walter Kaiser said that the company planned to focus on the clubs that it owns. One other club closed in September 2007 after its lease expired.
An e-mail and phone call to Lakeshore Athletic Clubs have not been returned.
Lakeshore Athletic Clubs, a fixture in the Chicago fitness scene since 1972, has consistently appeared in Club Industry’s annual Top 100 clubs list. Last year, it ranked No. 27 with reported 2008 revenue of $41.8 million. The year before, Lakeshore ranked No. 42 but would have been higher on the list had it not been for a clerical error relating to the reporting of its revenue. The company generated close to $47 million in 2007, which would have placed it 25th on the 2008 list.
In 2007, Lakeshore reported it had 1,265 employees. In 2008 and 2009, the company reported 950 employees.