Santa Cruz County Bank may auction off a housing project site in San Jose after its former owner defaulted on a $3 million loan.
The Santa Cruz-based lender warned it might auction off, or seize through a foreclosure, a commercial building at 395 South Winchester Boulevard, the San Jose Mercury News reported, citing public records.
Century Tower, led by San Jose-based real estate investor Fred Mayer, bought the third-acre property in 2019 for $5.5 million. The firm then filed plans for a 16-unit apartment complex near Westfield Valley Fair Mall and Santana Row.
In 2020, Century borrowed $3 million from Santa Cruz County Bank. Then it defaulted on the loan.
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In October, Mayer’s firm sold the site to an undisclosed investment group based in Fremont for $4.8 million.
Nonetheless, the bank will either auction off, or foreclose on the building because of the unpaid debt. The building appears vacant in a March photo by Google Maps. A Loopnet depiction shows it occupied by a piano store.
— Dana Bartholomew