Libby's owner to acquire buildings

Friday, May 4, is a big day for Stephen Seidensticker. The owner of Libby’s Cafe + Bar and his real-estate business partner, Lemuel Sharp III, are scheduled to acquire the Hillview restaurant’s building, Morton’s Plaza, Southside Deli, a 4,089-square-feet of retail building and a vacant lot in a foreclosure auction from the Griffin family.

The investors, who are operating as L&S Partners LLC, own the mortgage note on the property, which has grown to $11.15 million through penalties and interest. Seidensticker and Sharp purchased the debt from Wells Fargo Bank NA last year for $6.4 million.

The partners will effectively bid the total mortgage amount and can only be outbid if another would-be buyer offered more than $11.15 million. In the case that they are outbid, the proceeds would go to L&S Partners LLC up to the debit amount and then to the Griffin family.

“I actually hope we do get outbid,” Seidensticker said. “Lem and I just felt it made sense. We are very familiar with the properties and tenants. Of course, this would also solidify (Libby’s) position over there. It’s a premier property in a great neighborhood. We plan to be here for a long while and to be great neighbors.”

The five parcels have been under a legal cloud since 2010. Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure suit against Carla and William Griffin, personally, and several real-estate entities Dec. 27, 2010, for non-payment on a mortgage and a swap transaction. Wells Fargo was also seeking damages and payment of properties taxes for 2008 and 2009.

In November, Joe Hembree, of Hembree & Associates Inc., was appointed receiver to manage the rental business.

During the foreclosure process in December, L&S Partners filed an emergency motion for contempt against William Griffin and John Ford Griffin. In the complaint, L&S Partners alleged the Griffins completed an unapproved withdrawal and a bank wire in November ($153,165.32 and $8,408.65, respectively) and transferred a bank signatory card to William Griffin. Ultimately, those accusations of contempt were dropped, according to Seidensticker.

The partners don’t plan to pursue the Griffins for any deficiencies after the auction.

Currently, all of the buildings are fully leased. The current tenants in the property include: Morton’s Gourmet Market, Libby’s, Marmalade Salon & Boutique, Riley Interior Design, The Paper Tree, RHA Boutique, Jewelry by Giorgio and LCM Capital Advisors.

Properties to be Acquired
• 1924 S. Osprey Ave., the 23,948-square-foot Morton’s Plaza
• 1907 S. Osprey Ave., the 10,205-square-foot Libby’s Cafe + Bar
• 1931 S. Osprey Ave., 4,089-square-foot retail building housing the Paper Tree
• 1825 Hillview St., the 2,613-square-foot Southside Deli
• 1821 Hyde Park St., 8,198-square-foot lot
Total building square footage: 40,855