Bank buys Hampton Inn at foreclosure auction

The bank holding the mortgage on the Hampton Inn Rochester-North will probably market and sell the hotel, according to the attorney who represents U.S. Bank NA, which bought the hotel Thursday at a foreclosure auction.

John K. McAndrew, a partner in the Rochester law firm Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP, entered the sole bid of $8.18 million on behalf of his client.

The sale satisfied a foreclosure judgment of $10,106,895.73, granted in November by Monroe County Supreme Court Justice Kenneth R. Fisher, against the hotel, WNC Greece LLC and its manager, Joseph Scuderi, who is part of the leadership team at The Widewaters Group in DeWitt, Onondaga County.

The auction was conducted by attorney Louis B. Cristo of the Rochester firm Trevett Cristo Salzer & Andolina PC, whom Justice Fisher had appointed as referee.

Cristo opened the proceeding at 10 a.m., reading the terms of the sale, which included an immediate 10 percent cash payment with the balance required by 2 p.m. Feb. 28.

Also at the auction was Theodore Welter, a licensed real estate broker whom Justice Fisher had named as receiver and later approved $308,850 in repairs. In addition, there were five or six other men who said they had come to watch, but did not identify themselves.

According to court documents, WNC Greece consolidated previous loans into a single $8.5 million loan on Nov. 8, 2006 with a gap mortgage assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, which was later assigned to U.S. Bank NA as a successor to Morgan Stanley Capital 1 Inc.

WNC Greece defaulted on the 25-year loan as of Dec. 1. 2011. The lender demanded payment in full on Dec. 16, 2011, after which it began litigation.

As of March 6, there was a principal balance of $7,701,527.74, which, coupled with interest and penalties, exceeded $10 million as of Oct. 1.

U.S. Bank NA, listed as trustee, is successor in interest to Bank of America NA, successor by merger to LaSalle Bank NA for Morgan Stanley.

The thousands of Hampton Inns across the country are franchises, according to John Walls, director for public relations for Hampton Hotels, a division of Hilton Worldwide.

The property, which includes nearly 3 acres at 500 Center Place Drive in the town of Greece, was valued at $3,708,000 in 2012.