A travel plaza at 900 Petro Drive in Rochelle, Ill., which operated as a Petro Travel Plaza under a franchise of TravelCenters of America, has been sold. The buyer will continue to operate the 28-acre travel plaza under the franchise.
Rochelle, Ill., is located about 30 miles south of Rockford, Ill., on I-39, exit 99, and the facility is a full-service travel center with a trucker’s store, Iron Skillet restaurant, three-bay truck wash, truck scales, five-bay truck service/repair, movie theatre, 10 gaming terminals, a Hub City Deli and parking for 390 trucks, 130 cars, 10 RVs and four buses. There are 140 employees at the site. Besides the travel plaza, the sale includes contiguous 29 acres suitable for a budget hotel or expansion of the existing facility. The main building contains 28,000 square feet and was built in 1992.
The sellers are Malcolm Anderberg and Clyde Gelderloos, who opened the truck stop in 1992. They have operated the facility for the last 30 years and approached NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC (NRC) to coordinate the sale last year. Now in their late 80s, they took advantage of the robust market for high-volume, well-located truck stops to effectuate their exit from the market.
The buyer is Mike Boparai, a truck operator, investor and quick-service restaurant (QSR) owner from Stockton, Calif. Boparai has moved to Rockford, Ill., to take over day-to-day operation of the property.
“Trucks stops and c-stores in California are trading for very high multiples,” said Boparai. “I expect the Rochelle property with its multiple income streams to generate good cash flows and am looking for similar sites in the Midwest to acquire.”
“We were very excited to be chosen to represent the Rochelle owners,” commented Patrick Downey, an NRC vice president. “They had a very attractive asset and business to sell, and I had dozens of conversations with prospects from all over. The NRC bid process was a good platform to put bidder against bidder to determine not only the highest price, but the most qualified bidder was awarded the deal.”