Jones Block Auction in Adams Postponed

ADAMS, Mass. — The scheduled foreclosure auction of the Jones Block was postponed until March after the developer filed bankruptcy.

A handful of potential bidders and onlookers were gathered outside the buiding at 49-51 Park St. in the frigid air for the start of the auction at 1 p.m. on Thursday. But instead auctioneer Corey Fisher of Aaron Posnik & Co. declared that the auction had been postponed to March 15 at 1 p.m.

The result was the same for companion building at 39-45 Park, set to be auctioned at 1:30. It, too, was postponed to March 15 at 1:30 p.m.

A representative for mortgageholder Hoosac Bank declined to comment on the change of plans, but it was apparently sidelined by the buildings' owner Samel Adams Enterprises LLC filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York, on Wednesday, Jan. 23.

Samuel Adams was the limited liability company established by developer Gerardo "Gerry" Sanchez to own and renovate the two buildings. It has a mortgage for $700,00 on the Jones Block and $384,000 on the Carlow building, both taken out from Hoosac Bank in 2008.

The bankruptcy court filing puts the value of the two buildings at $2.125 million and lists only Hoosac Bank as the creditor holding secured claims with a value of $1.28 million. The company estimates its assets at between $1 million and $10 million.

Sanchez, head of Polonia Architectural Restorations, has had his ups and downs. While his company is known for its successful restoration projects, he also ran into bankruptcy trouble in the past and was forced to sell his holdings, according to a 2004 article in the Times-Herald Record of Middletown, N.Y.

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