The taps are running dry again for the owners of Great Central Brewing Company, who are facing another foreclosure on their Near West Side facility just a few years after dodging a similar bullet.
Laguna Hills, California-based Harvest Commercial Capital this week filed a $4.7 million foreclosure lawsuit in Cook County court against the David Avram-led ownership entity, 221 Wood Holdings LLC. The suit targets the commercial property at 221 North Wood Street, which houses the Great Central Brewery.
The complaint alleges the borrower defaulted on a $4.75 million loan originated in December 2024 by failing to make required payments, pay property taxes, and provide 2024 tax returns. As of mid-May, the outstanding balance hovered just over $4.7 million, inclusive of late fees and interest.
Now, Harvest Commercial is asking the court for a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the property, as well as a personal deficiency judgment against the Great Central Brewery business entity, which acted as the guarantor. That could mean the company could be on the hook to pay to make up any gap between the loan amount and the price the property fetches from a third-party buyer, should Harvest go through with a foreclosure sale.
For Avram’s group, it’s a familiar hangover. The property was hit with a $12 million foreclosure lawsuit in 2023 by Wheaton-based lender T2 Capital. That suit was ultimately dismissed after the ownership managed to salvage the asset.
“The sponsor was resourceful and was able to recapitalize the property,” T2 CEO Jeff Brown said earlier this year.
However, T2 isn’t entirely out of the picture. The lender is still owed just under $2 million today, according to a mortgage filed on the property, and is named as a defendant in the Harvest complaint. It remains unclear exactly how the latest foreclosure effort will impact T2’s remaining investment in the property.
The capital stack issues don’t end there. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is also named in the suit, holding more than $52,000 in unresolved liens against the real estate. Other defendants holding potential interests or liens include the U.S. Small Business Administration and Byline Bank.
Representatives for Harvest Commercial Capital and Great Central Brewing did not immediately return requests for comment. Brown didn’t return an email requesting comment.
The financial distress at 221 North Wood is far from an anomaly. The craft brewery business has endured a brutal stretch in Chicagoland and nationally, grappling with shifting consumer habits, rising material costs and an oversaturated market. Several local brewers have been forced to downsize, sell off equipment or shutter altogether as the post-pandemic buzz wears off, leaving their highly specialized real estate vulnerable to lenders.
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