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City Center II not foreclosed, Huntington notice was mistake

July 15, 2009

A notice of foreclosure that was published July 9 regarding a large-scale downtown development project was an error, said Eric Sanko, vice president of special assets at Huntington National Bank.

The notice, which was published in the Ingham County Legal News, stated the City Center II Project has about $3.6 million due on its mortgage. The mortgage belongs to City Center II’s developer, Strathmore Development Company.

City Center II is a $116.4 million mixed-use building slated for the area bound by Abbot Road and Grand River and Evergreen avenues.

Strathmore President Scott Chappelle said the notice was an error and the company has resolved the issue with Huntington National Bank.

“There was no foreclosure,” Chappelle said. “It has been resolved.”

Sanko said Huntington was in negotiations with Strathmore about the mortgage. A notice of foreclosure was sent to the Ingham County Legal News while Huntington and Strathmore were in negotiations. Before Sanko could stop the notice, it already was being published.

“Our attorney did send the notice, but then negotiations continued with our customer and we tried to stop the Legal Times from publishing it, but, unfortunately, we were too late,” Sanko said.

City Manager Ted Staton said the project is up to date and nothing has fallen behind.

“I know from our standpoint, everything is current on those properties,” he said.

Staton said with the current financial market, banks are being very protective of their assets and many developers are having trouble acquiring funds.

“The world is upside down,” Staton said. “Nothing planned two years ago is going to be carried out the way it was planned two years ago.”

Strathmore has had financial troubles in the past with other projects. The city of Ann Arbor claimed Strathmore filed documents late on a project, causing a check to bounce. The project is currently stalled. However, Chappelle said everything with the City Center II project is in order and that the notice was a mistake.

“Our financing is in place with Huntington Bank and there are no issues,” he said.

City officials still have confidence in Strathmore.

“There is no foreclosure action. (Huntington is) satisfied,” Staton said. “If the entity to whom Strathmore owes millions of dollars, if they are satisfied with Strathmore’s financial conditions, why should we not be?”

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