Receiver: Offer made for Crescent Beach, Wintergarden sold

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A purchase offer has been submitted on the forfeited Crescent Beach Restaurant property and The Wintergarden has a new owner, according to the most recent receiver’s report detailing the forced liquidation of Katherine Mott’s hospitality portfolio.

With the March 21 sale of The Wintergarden to a former unnamed employee, just $2,000 in cash remains in the Mott accounts managed by court-appointed receiver Mark R. Kercher.

His report for March, filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, said a “letter of intent” was submitted on Tuesday “from a potential purchaser” of Crescent Beach.

Mott bought the property in November 2023 and was in the midst of renovation when Five Star Bank in March 2024 accused her and several co-defendants of participation in an elaborate check-kiting scheme.

The lawsuit brought to an abrupt end all construction activities. The mortgager on the Crescent Beach loan has since initiated foreclosure proceedings and the contractor has filed a construction lien.

Last month’s sale of The Wintergarden only relieved Mott, 55, of tax and loan burdens on that business but provided no cash for repayment of other debt. She owned only the business entity and not the space at Legacy Tower where it operates in downtown Rochester.

The buyer assumed rent liabilities, unpaid sales tax obligations and a Small Business Administration loan, relieving Mott of approximately $1.8 million in liabilities, Kercher’s report says, while also safeguarding events that had already been booked.

Back in February, Monroe’s Restaurant was sold and Divinity Estate & Chapel, the other wedding and event venue once operated by Mott, was evicted from the South Goodman Street property for alleged nonpayment of rent. Like The Wintergarden, those business entities did not own the venues where they operated.

Vistas at Strong, LLC, an entity owned by developer Angelo Ingrassia, is seeking around $2 million in unpaid and accelerated rent, according to a March 3 court filing.

The dismantling of Mott’s hospitality empire was necessary following the Five Star Bank’s revelation that the Pittsford restauranter bilked the financial institution out of $19 million. In December, Mott waived federal indictment and pleaded guilty to financial institution fraud and money laundering.

Her guilty plea included forfeiture of Crescent Beach, the once-iconic lakeside restaurant along Edgemere Drive in the town of Greece. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 1, when she faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

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