Sale at auction would finalize foreclosure of Hungerford Building in Rochester

The mortgage holder on the Hungerford Building has asked the state Supreme Court in Monroe County to order the sale of the property which, if the request is granted, would bring resolution to foreclosure proceedings that were initiated in September.

Elizon DB Transfer Agent LLC contends Peter Hungerford and associated Staten Island entities owe $10,490,036.37. Hungerford signed a guaranty of repayment on the original $8.25 million loan, according to court papers filed late last month by attorney Todd M. Gardella of the Long Island-based firm of  Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein, LLP.

The mortgage holder has asked Justice Daniel J. Doyle to finalize the default judgment that was granted in May, approve the referee’s report that calculated the amount owed, and allow referee Michael Rothenberg to sell the property at auction.

Located at the corner of North Goodman and East Main streets, the sprawling structure had been a thriving home for artists and creatives in Rochester but is now a symbol of urban real estate neglect.

Hungerford’s defense attorney, Matthew Hearle of Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP of New York, has objected to the plaintiff’s request, however. In a court filing on Monday, Hearle argues that conclusions in the the referee’s report “have no evidentiary support.”

His filing contends the report is “devoid of any ‘evidence’ upon which the referee supposedly used to determine how much is due.”

Hearle claims the balance owed was calculated from the figures provided by Katherine Meagher, an executive with the Elizon DB company, but actual documentation was not included.

“While true that a ‘report of a referee should be confirmed whenever the findings are substantially supported by the record … there must be a record to review,’ ” Hearle wrote, citing precedence from a 2025 ruling by the 2nd Department in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. vs. Quinche.

The Hungerford Building dates back to the early 1900s, when the property was home to the J. Hungerford Smith Co. The company made fruit flavored syrups as well as the syrup used in A&W Root Beer.

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