Former nursing home listed as 'under contract'

URBANA — The former University Rehabilitation Center of C-U may be close to having a new owner.

The property at 500 Art Bartell Road is now marked as “under contract” by Chicago-based Frontline Real Estate Partners, which has been listing the property since October of 2023.

Champaign County Executive Steve Summers told The News-Gazette he did not have any new information about a potential sale.

“We were aware that (M&T Bank) was negotiating with several prospective buyers, but that’s the last information that I’ve received at this point,” he said.

University Rehab of C-U, located at the former Champaign County Nursing Home, closed in spring 2023. M&T Bank filed a lawsuit in May of that year over the unpaid balance of $12 million in two loans taken out by the nursing home owners to finance their purchase of the property in 2019.

Champaign County Judge Ben Dyer approved an order in the fall of 2023 that included appointing Frontline as the receiver to handle, in part, the sale of the property.

When asked about the status of a possible deal, M&T Bank senior communications director Frank Lentini said that, technically, the property is still owned by University Rehab Real Estate LLC rather than the bank. William “Avi” Rothner, manager of the LLC, declined to comment on the matter.

Rothner had previously appealed to the county board to remove a restrictive covenant that prohibited the site from being used as anything but a nursing home until 2028.

According to Summers, the Champaign County Board voted in May to lift the restriction in return for compensation from M&T Bank.

“We have an agreement with them for a percentage, and it kind of fluctuates a little bit based on what the sale price is,” Summers said.

The county executive previously said in February that the bank had received bids for the property, but none were for use as a nursing home and all were “substantially less than the outstanding mortgage due to the bank.”