Sale of Crescent Beach restaurant falls through

The potential buyer of Crescent Beach restaurant has put the kibosh on a proposed sale of the landmark Greece property.

Court documents involving a foreclosure action on a home in Pittsford revealed that the Crescent Beach sale “would likely not be going through.”

That house on Clover Street, as well as Crescent Beach and other properties owned by restaurateur Katherine Mott, were used as collateral on a 2023 construction loan to renovate the long-shuttered restaurant.

But attorney Stephen J. Lapp of Evans Fox LLP, the firm representing Casciani Construction Co. Inc., said in an Oct. 6 letter to state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Waldorf that sale talks are off.

Lapp said in his letter that he had been working in conjunction with Mott’s attorneys to close on the sale of Crescent Beach at 1372 Edgemere Dr.

Jay Wegman, managing partner of Greece-based real estate development firm Wegman Companies, had been mentioned in federal court filings as an interested buyer.

But Mark R. Kercher, the court-appointed receiver in the Mott civil case, confirmed that sale talks have ended. Gary Craig first reported the news in his independent Substack post on Wednesday.

Kercher said in an email to the Rochester Business Journal that other parties have expressed interest “but, as of now, nothing is on the table.”

Mott and a business partner bought Crescent Beach in November of 2023 through 11 Wexford Glen, LLC, with the intention of renovating and then reopening the venue sometime in 2024. The restaurant has been closed since 2012 and at least two other parties have failed in attempts to revive the property.

Mott and business partner Robert Harris agreed to forfeit proceeds from any sale of Crescent Beach. The forfeiture was part of Mott’s guilty plea on financial institution fraud and money laundering.

Because there will be no money to disburse from the Crescent Beach sale, Lapp wrote that his client will be enforcing a lien on the Clover Street home and that another party in that action, Genesee Construction, also likely will enforce its lien rights.

That house at 2990 Clover St. is also the subject of a civil action filed by former Mott employee Taylor Pagano, who alleged Mott sold her the home for $500,000 but failed to provide the title.

Mott’s sentencing in the criminal case has been rescheduled twice, presumably while she continues to cooperate with federal authorities.

A civil suit filed in the spring of 2024 by Five Star Bank continues. She was accused of masterminding an elaborate check-kiting scheme that cost the bank nearly $19 million.

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