The Van Dyck Restaurant & Brewery, the landmark Stockade music club in foreclosure for the last year, faces the auction block this spring.
Club owner N. Peter Olsen shuttered the former jazz club last March, saying he planned to close temporarily for repairs.
Olsen then put the Van Dyck up for sale. He initially listed it at $1.6 million and is now seeking $1.48 million.
The Van Dyck went dark after Berkshire Bank and the Metroplex Development Authority foreclosed on Olsen in January 2007. Olsen defaulted on a $250,000 loan from Berkshire and a $200,000 loan and $75,000 line of credit from Metroplex.
Olsen did not return phone calls Tuesday.
Roland Faulkner, a court-appointed attorney, said he expects to sell the Van Dyck within the next 90 days. “I would be surprised if it didn’t happen in three months,” he said. “It is going to be salvaged, but not by the owner.”
Faulkner plans to sell the property as two parcels, the famed restaurant at 235-237 Union St. and a parking lot a block away.
State Supreme Court Justice Vincent Reilly Jr. appointed Faulkner to oversee the foreclosure, granting summary judgment in November to Berkshire Bank. Faulkner said he spent the few weeks calculating the amount Olsen owes to Berkshire through his corporation, Electric City Brew Pub, which operates the Van Dyck.
Faulkner submitted his report last Friday and expects to hear from the bank shortly. The bank is expected to authorize him to proceed to the next step, filing legal notices for the auction.
Olsen can satisfy the delinquent loans at any time prior to the sale of the property, said Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen. “There are a couple of outcomes — it will be sold at auction or he will sell it and allow us to retire our debt,” he said. “We are pleased the referee has been appointed. It gets us that much closer to recovering our loan.”
Gillen said the property has enough equity to satisfy both Berkshire’s and Metroplex’s loans.
The Van Dyck property, including the parking lot, is listed with Re/Max Premier in Delmar, said real estate agent Peter McKee. McKee was appointed by the bankruptcy court to sell the property.
“We are working very, very hard to sell the Van Dyck. We are working with multiple parties and are asking them to put their offers in,” McKee said.
Gillen said some buyers may wait for the Van Dyck to go to auction, hoping to get a better deal.
McKee, however, said there is no guarantee that a would-be buyer will pick up the property at a desired price at the auction. “If they put in an offer now, they might [get] a better price,” he said.
He would not receive a commission if the property were sold at auction.
Gillen said several “established, well-known restaurateurs are interested in the property. Our goal is to bring in private investors.”
Categories: Schenectady County
