{"id":36379,"date":"2026-05-05T18:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=36379"},"modified":"2026-05-05T18:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:17:11","slug":"back-40-client-has-property-under-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/back-40-client-has-property-under-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Back 40: Client has property under contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A FOR SALE sign which went up on the Back 40 Junction approximately three weeks ago has been taken down and it appears some negotiations are going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The iconic Decatur restaurant closed last Dec. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Midland Atlantic Properties in Indianapolis is handling the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawn Heffern of Midland Atlantic told WZBD.com he has a client, not named, who has the property under contract but hasn’t yet closed on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are talking to multiple different parties but aren’t sure how it will shake out,\u201d Heffern said in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recommend you check back via email in 60-90 days and hopefully I have more to share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Back 40 closed on New Year’s Day, owner\/operator John Ferrise indicated a sale could happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re trying to sell,\u201d he told WZBD.com, \u201cbut right now I can’t say anything. We’re hoping…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferrise said health issues were forcing him to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He had worked at the Back 40 for 27 years, having been initially employed by Azar’s, a longtime corporate owner who purchased the business from founder Clete Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferrise bought the business in 2020. His son, Nathan, was an employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restaurant has been situated on the southwest corner of 13th St. and Washington St.\/Archbold Road since 1974 and has attracted thousands of visitors from numerous states to eat and to view the myriad of unique additions inside and out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1950s program advertisement<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1950’s Clete Miller leased a building on the corner off Nuttman and 13th Street (now McDonald’s) which was then called Swearingen Dairy Ice Cream and Malt Shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He named it the Fairway Restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller moved the restaurant to its present location, opening in 1974 as the Back 40 Junction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com A FOR SALE sign which went up on the Back 40 Junction approximately three<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,21],"class_list":["post-36379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/For-sale-sign-Back-40.jpg?fit=693%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36387,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36379\/revisions\/36387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}