NEWS

Medley Centre on the auction block again

Meaghan M. McDermott
@meagmc

Got a few extra dollars lying around?

Have any interest in a slightly used, somewhat abused defunct shopping mall on a prime piece of real estate right off Route 104 in Irondequoit?

You could be in luck, as the moribund Medley Centre mall and nine other properties owned by Bersin Properties LLC are slated to be sold at a Monroe County Sheriff's Sale on Jan. 21.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the properties have been within sight of the auction block. A last-minute payment of more than a million dollars last month prevented Monroe County from selling the sites to collect overdue back taxes. That payment was made by Nomura Capital and Credit, which is pursuing foreclosure against Bersin Properties.

Medley Centre to be auctioned Nov. 10

This time, the properties are up for bid via a Monroe County Sheriff's Sale, where the properties could be sold to satisfy a civil judgment against the mall owners for more than $400,000 owed to local engineering firm Passero Associates.

According to published legal notices, the sites up for sale are: 285, 101 and 100 Medley Centre Parkway; 406, 400, 392 and 388 Tiam Drive: 1733 E. Ridge Road; and 1665 E. Ridge Road. An unnumbered site on Medley Centre Parkway is also included.

The debtor can still make full payment up until the time of the sale, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan. 21 at 130 S. Plymouth Ave.

The pending auction is yet another in a litany of problems for the failed redevelopment of the former Irondequoit Mall.

Medley Centre timeline

Developer Adam Bersin purchased the fading site in the mid-2000s, and attempted a turnaround but his efforts were for naught. He sold his company and the properties in 2008 to developer Scott Congel, who was at that time a principal with Syracuse-based The Pyramid Cos.

Congel was granted a 30-year package of tax breaks from the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency in order to move ahead with a promised quarter-billion-dollar redevelopment at the site, which was to include high-end retail, hotels, entertainment and residences.

When none of the redevelopment materialized, COMIDA in 2014 yanked the tax breaks, putting the site back on the tax rolls at full value. In February, Nomura filed its foreclosure, which is still pending. Congel has said the project failed because Nomura stopped financing the endeavor, in violation of their lending agreement. He has countersued the bank as well as filed suit against COMIDA, the town of Irondequoit and the East Irondequoit Central School District.

In reaction to last month's auction, Congel sent a written statement that said Bersin Properties is still engaged in active litigation "with the intention of completing our project at Medley Centre."

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com

Lonely Medley Centre understands how the Bills feel