Vacant Macaroni Grill building listed for $1M

The former home of Romano’s Macaroni Grill on East Battlefield Road has been listed for $1 million, according to listing agent Ross Murray of R.B. Murray Co.

The building was left vacant in the wake of bankruptcy proceedings by restaurateur Bruce Swisshelm. Murray said the property is now owned by Great Southern Bank, which, according to court filings, held a $7.71 million secured claim in Swisshelm's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filed in March and had provided a loan for Macaroni Grill to finance operations.

The 6,474-square-foot former eatery at 1286 E. Battlefield Road in the Fremont Shopping Center sits on land owned by Ataractic Investment Co. LLC. The property has a long-term land lease attached to it, said Murray, whose company handles the brokerage side of Ataractic Investment.

"They don't own the dirt underneath the building, just the actual building," Murray added of Great Southern.

The former restaurant property - which seats roughly 220 people and includes furniture, fixtures and equipment - was built in 2007, according to the listing.

The closure of Macaroni Grill was one of several business moves tied to Swisshelm's bankruptcy. Others were the closure of the Ebbets Field restaurant on South Glenstone Avenue in April; a change in ownership to Pub Management LLC for the East Walnut Street Ebbets Field; and a March 31 change in ownership of the East Sunshine Street location of San Francisco Oven, now owned by Gordon Elliott of Elliott Lodging Ltd. via Market Place Properties Inc., according to Springfield Business Journal archives.