old basketball hall of fame restaurant space.JPG

The restaurant space at the 1150 Hall of Fame Ave. in Springfield, part of the River's Landing complex at the former Basketball Hall of Fame building being offered for sale at $23 million.

(MARK M. MURRAY / THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

SPRINGFIELD — The former Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame building, redeveloped in 2008 into mixed retail use and now home to L.A. Fitness, is for sale with an asking price of $23 million.

The real estate advertisement lists the building at 1150 Hall of Fame Ave. Some city records show it at 1150 West Columbus Ave, the previous name for the same street.

According to a real estate listing on the site LoopNet, the 70,644-square-foot building is 88 percent occupied. That same ad touts the building's proximity to the coming $800 million MGM Springfield casino as a major selling point for potential owners.

ProEx Physical Therapy is also located in the building. A 350-seat, 8,312-square-foot restaurant space, most recently occupied by a Mama Iguana's, is vacant.

Mama Iguana's closed in in 2013 after operating for just two years. At the time, restaurateur Claudio Guerra cited the space's large size as a problem. It was simply too hard to draw enough people to operate it successfully, he said.

Before Guerra, developer Peter J. Pappas and partners operated Onyx Fusion Bar and Restaurant in the space. Onyx closed in 2011 after three years of operation.

Pappas' group continues to own the property. He couldn't immediately be reached late Thursday afternoon.

Pappas and his River's Landing LLC redeveloped the Hall of Fame building in 1998 and 1999, after the Hall built its new and current facility across the parking lot.

At the time, the city of Springfield touted the River's Landing project as a $15 million project.

The real estate ad tells potential buyers that the property generates $1.2 million a year in income, a number that would swell to $1.4 million if the restaurant space is leased.

The ad says the property pays $219,155 a year in real estate taxes. It's assessed at $19 million.

The property is owned through a business condominium arrangement with the Springfield Redevelopment Authority that lasts through 2099.