A large, but struggling piece of real estate in the Village near the Ball State campus will likely get a new owner today.
The University Square Building at the center of the Village, which now houses Dill Street Bar, has been ordered by a bankruptcy judge to be auctioned off.
While speculation surrounded the building's future for days before the auction, it is still unclear who plans on purchasing the building.
A rumor circling Muncie in recent weeks suggests that Ball State may have interest in purchasing the building.
Kevin Burke director of Communications at Ball State, said he hasn't heard anything that would suggest interest from the university, but that Ball State pays attention to issues in the Village.
"The university always pays attention to anything in proximity to campus, but what interests it has, I am not sure," he said.
The University Square building has had a hard time supporting business. It's seen a number of businesses come and go over the past few years, a fact that surprises Mike Lunsford, president of the Muncie real estate firm Coldwell Banker Lunsford.
"That's been kind of a puzzle to me and I'm supposed to know what I'm doing, but I don't have a good answer for that," he said. "Maybe it's because there aren't a lot of people living in the Village. My hope is that whoever takes it can create some student housing. They need to do all they can to get activity down there."
The building was owned by local landlord Myles Ogea, who owns other properties in the Village, but he lost it in a bankruptcy case.
Ogea did not return calls for questioning and his lawyer Ed Hopper refused to comment on the auction of the building.
According to an article in the Muncie Star Press, the building is valued at $2 million, according to Delaware county tax records.
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