I remember when this was opened and it was going to save dowtown New London.


Bank Says Crocker House Owners Are In Arrears, Files For Foreclosure
Complaint says payments on New London landmark mortgage missed in July, August

By Brian Hallenbeck Published on 3/25/2009


New London - Wells Fargo Bank is seeking to foreclose on the Crocker House, the five-story State Street landmark that was a centerpiece for downtown development a decade ago.

The building houses about a half-dozen retail outlets and some 80 apartments.

In a complaint filed late last week in Superior Court and in city land records, the bank, headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., alleges that the property's owners are in default on a 10-year, $5.3 million mortgage secured in July 2006. The owners failed to make mortgage payments that were due July 1, 2008, and Aug. 1, 2008, prompting the bank to declare the entire balance due and payable, the complaint states.

Notice of the complaint was served last Wednesday on Tamara Levine, a Farmington attorney for Crocker House LLC, an entity formed by AME Development, whose principals are Alva Greenberg and Michael Joplin, both of Chester, and Elie Pallandre of Madison. Joplin is the president of the New London Development Corp., the quasi-public agency charged with developing the Fort Trumbull peninsula. Greenberg owns a retail store, Alva, on State Street.

None of the principals could be reached to comment Tuesday. Messages left with Levine's office were not returned.

The owners renovated the apartments on the top four floors of the 137-year-old building, as well as the ground-floor storefronts, a 5,600-square-foot ballroom and a 4,000-square-foot courtyard.

”To my knowledge, the building is fully occupied,” said Penny Parsekian, chief executive officer of New London Main Street, which promotes the downtown area. She said she was “terribly disappointed” to hear of the foreclosure proceeding.

The complaint asks the court to grant Wells Fargo a foreclosure of the mortgage; immediate possession of the property; a foreclosure by sale; a deficiency judgment against Crocker House; the appointment of a receiver to collect rents and profits; damages; and attorneys' fees.

Armando Batastini, an attorney with the firm Nixon Peabody in Providence, which is representing Wells Fargo, said the complaint “speaks for itself” and declined further comment.

The defendants have until April 14 to reply to the action and could, presumably, settle the complaint before then. According to land records, the original amount of the loan, which had an interest rate of 6.156 percent, was $5,285,835. The monthly payment, including principal and interest, was $32,223.

The property subject to foreclosure, according to the complaint, is the Crocker House building at 170-190 State St. and a vacant lot behind it at 112 Golden St.

Built in 1872, the Crocker House was originally a hotel. It was vacant and in disrepair when Cabrini Inc., then the for-profit real estate arm of the New London Development Corp., bought it for $1,250,000 in 1999, according to a city assessor's database.

Crocker House LLC purchased the property at public auction in 2002 for $525,000.

Rents for the one-bedroom and studio apartments begin at $650, according to the property's Web site. Retail tenants include Smizer Perry, a graphics design firm; a beauty salon; TSETSE Gallery; and Minuteman Press