A few months after a New Jersey company bought an office building in downtown Rock Island, it's trying to lease or sell it.
At the end of an online auction in February, a company named Entech Group was the highest bidder. And Michelle O'Neill reports it bought the former Bitco Insurance headquarters for $244,000.
David Levin, from NAI Ruhl Commercial Company, says Entech officials visited Rock Island and were surprised to find out the Quad Cities area is not as large as they thought. So the company has "no interest" in the Bitco property.
It plans to either sell it or lease it for $3.00/sq. ft. Levin says that's a bargain compared to the market rate of $8-10/sq. ft. Entech has not named a selling price, but before the auction it was assessed at one million dollars.
Levin is also the real estate agent for Western Illinois University's former campus on 60th Street in Moline. About two years ago, he and the college announced the property was for sale with an asking price of $5.5 million.
He says WIU has accepted an offer to buy it but can't say more until the deal closes.
