IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. -- Monroe County officials said Monday the Medley Centre will avoid the auction block, as the owner of the derelict property is now up to date on its tax payments.
Nomura Bank paid more than a million dollars in back taxes that were due by Nov. 9.
A lawsuit filed in 2014 by developer Bersin Properties claimed it had withdrawn financing on a long-planned project that has yet to take shape at the site. Bersin was decertified as an Empire Zone designee earlier this spring, which means it lost state tax credit.
The Irondequoit town supervisor says it appears the bank stepped in to prevent the property's owners from getting a clean slate after an auction.
"If it went to auction, all the liens that had been filed, all the debt obligations that the current owners has, would get wiped clean," said Town Supervisor Adam Bello, D-Irondequoit. "The slate gets wiped clean, and he gets relieved of his obligations, so the bank stepped forward, I assume, to be able to preserve their lien on the property so they can continue with their foreclosure, which would ultimately get the property out of the hands of the current owner."
Nine other Bersin properties were on a county list for a tax lien foreclosure auction. No word yet on if those will still go to auction.