Clermont foreclosure is the tip of the iceberg
June 23, 2009 at 8:36 pm by Scott Henry in News
Yes, the Clermont Hotel, which was put up for sale in April for $6.5 million, is now in foreclosure. And, yes, that puts the future of the fabled Clermont Lounge in doubt. It’s doubly a shame when one considers that the five-story (but definitely not five star) hotel had finally achieved enough of a landmark status that it has attracted interest from local restaurateurs and retailers.
As John Huston’s character says in Chinatown: “Of course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”
According to listing agent Gene Kansas, several well-known restaurant owners have inquired about the space and the owners of Octane coffee bar were eyeing the building for a second location. He says he’s got a signed letter of intent from uber-hip Ace Hotel, a Portland-based company that operates — under someone else’s ownership — hotels in the Northeast, California and Manhattan.
That’s quite a turnaround from the days, not that long ago, when the Clermont Hotel was regarded as a low-rent flophouse for transients and hookers.
My friend Paul Donsky with the AJC reports that the building is scheduled to be sold on the courthouse steps July 2, but that the lender, New York-based Fairway Capital, says it’s working with the owner, Jeff Notrica of Inman Park Properties, to resolve the matter before that happens.
Sadly, I have my doubts.
A cursory investigation of public records shows that Inman Park Properties has defaulted on loans for well over a dozen intown parcels, many of which contain familiar and historic buildings in the East Atlanta Village, Virginia-Highland and Midtown. Most of these have already been taken over by various banks.
A partial list includes:
- 1205 Metropolitan Ave., the former John B. Gordon Elementary School, which sat vacant more than a decade under Notrica’s ownership. Foreclosed in March.
- 304-308 Ponce de Leon Ave., a commercial strip that includes the old Goody’s film developing store and the Atlanta Eagle leather bar. Foreclosed in March.
- 292 Moreland Ave., former site of the Wrecking Bar in Little Five Points. Foreclosed in April.
- 344 Candler Park Drive, a former church. Foreclosed in April.
- 1739 Cheshire Bridge Road, site of the Inserection adult store. Foreclosed in May.
- 977 Ponce De Leon Ave., a former apartment building near the Publix that once housed the Inman Park Properties offices. Foreclosed in May.
Then there are Notrica’s properties that are currently in foreclosure, such as 159 Ralph McGill Blvd., a six-story, 32,000-square-foot office building with an unusual, round chapel attached that sits across Piedmont Road from the Atlanta Civic Center. Unless Notrica makes good on his $3.3 million loan for that site, it will be auctioned off next month along with the Clermont.
So there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Inman Park Properties is so over-leveraged that it can’t possibly hope to repay its many, many mortgages. And Atlanta isn’t the only place where the company owns — and is losing — property. Earlier this month, according to public records, a bank foreclosed on a $3.5 million historic riverfront building Notrica owned in downtown Savannah.
According to real estate sources, Notrica bought the Clermont Hotel in 2003 for about $3.5 million. If he’s allowed these other properties to be taken back by lenders, why would we imagine he has enough resources to keep a grip on this one?
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Notrica sounds like the Bernie Madoff of Atlanta real estate. Did the guy think he was playing Monopoly? What were bankers thinking when they made all these loans to him? (I know, I know, they were thinking origination fees.) Next time some brainwashed idiot tells me how well capitalism works, this story will be useful.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Wow, fantastic news! Getting all of those blighted sites out of Inman Park Properties’ hands and out into the market is a great thing. It is likely that new owners will actually develop the sites, instead of neglecting them. All of these communities will benefit.
Now if only Vision Properties in Decatur could follow suit.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
hmm, inman park properties:
pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.