An Illinois-based investment company has purchased the new Kohl’s department store building and the land it sits on for $17 million, the company confirmed Friday.

A deed finalizing the purchase was filed with Deschutes County on Thursday.

On Aug. 19, the buyer, a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, inked the deal with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based RP Realty Partners, which still owns the rest of the Bend River Promenade mall where Kohl’s is located.

Kohl’s signed a contract in 2009 to lease the building for 20 years, one reason the purchase was appealing, said Mark Cosenza, vice president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, the group’s purchasing arm. Because of Bend’s population growth, the distance from other Kohl’s stores and the company’s recent success, Cosenza said the purchase was more attractive.

“We believed in the demographics,” he said. “We like their product and there hasn’t been this product in Bend.”

The building is 64,000 square feet and was paid for by PR Realty Partners, but built to spec by Kohl’s, a Wisconsin-based company. While the purchase also included the parking lot to the south of the building, neither Inland nor Kohl’s was able to immediately specify how big the overall lot is.

Richard Costanzo, who works in development for PR Realty Partners, also wasn’t certain about the lot size, but thought it was around six acres. Costanzo said the deal was almost too good to be true, with his company able to sell off a single lot and keep the rest of the Bend River Promenade.

“We were pleased, for sure,” Costanzo said when asked about the $17 million sale price.

Cosenza said Kohl’s won’t be affected by the change in ownership. The store opened earlier this year, after initially filing plans to come to Bend in early 2008.

Bend River Promenade was built in 1980. RP Realty changed its name from Bend River Mall in late 2005.

Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, which is public, purchased more than 127 properties for $2.6 billion between January 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. In July, it purchased another Kohl’s building in Elk Grove, Calif., for $21.5 million.

Brian Fratzke, principal broker and founder of Fratzke Commercial Real Estate, said one bright spot in commercial real estate is retail. Fratzke said he has heard of 21 retail stores or restaurants interested in opening in Central Oregon.

“In a real estate market that, on a national level, people are speaking about Bend in poor light, there’s still some positives in the commercial arena,” Fratzke said.