Bankruptcy trustee sets private sale of Spicer Mansion contents
Mystic — A collection of more than 200 items ranging from chairs, tables and drapes to walk-in freezers, bed frames, mattresses and an ice cream machine will be auctioned in a private sale of Spicer Mansion’s contents.
Unlike an earlier sale, this one will be conducted with the approval of the trustee for the bankruptcy estate of the dormant, eight-room hotel’s former owner.
In a filing Tuesday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, attorney Bonnie Mangan, the bankruptcy trustee, announced that qualified, sealed bids must be submitted to her by March 17, with a sale hearing to take place March 23. All items will be sold in a single lot. Qualified bids must be no less than $110,000 and must be accompanied by a deposit of at least $11,000.
Captain’s Mansion LLC, the entity that acquired Spicer Mansion following protracted foreclosure proceedings, set the bar for the sale with a $100,000 “stalking horse” bid. Such a bid sets the market for other potential buyers to make offers.
Bankruptcy Judge James Tancredi granted Mangan’s motion that the private sale be conducted some two months after Brian Gates, who owned Spicer Mansion through Gates Realty Holdings, sold personal property on the luxury hotel’s premises in a two-day “estate sale” without consulting the bankruptcy court.
In default on a mortgage loan, Gates had temporarily staved off a foreclosure sale of the hotel by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last May. The hotel eventually was auctioned, however, and Gates’ case was converted to Chapter 7. During the December estate sale, Gates at
tempted to sell virtually everything inside and outside Spicer Mansion, including toilets, sinks and staircases.
Mangan told Tancredi that Gates had been “very cooperative” in complying with an order that he provide her with a list of items sold as well as the names of the buyers and that he turn over all proceeds of the sale. She said she had retrieved virtually all of the items sold and about $35,000 in payments.
In granting Mangan’s request to hold a private sale, Tancredi had to deal with the fact that creditors that include the state Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and Gates’ own attorney have placed liens on Spicer Mansion personal property. He made the order contingent on Mangan’s obtaining the lienholders’ consent, which she did.
Brian Wheelin, an attorney for Walter “Sonny” Glaser, the Captain’s Mansion principal, raised objections to Tancredi’s order, saying the private sale process could disrupt Glaser’s timetable for reopening the hotel. Neither Wheelin nor Glaser responded Tuesday to messages seeking comment.
Glaser purchased Spicer Mansion for $3,050,000 at the end of December.
Daniel Malchman, a North Stonington developer who expressed interest in Spicer Mansion’s contents during a bankruptcy court hearing in January, said Tuesday he intends to submit a private bid.
“I will bid on the whole lot, and would sell off what I don’t want,” he said. “I need all of the kitchen equipment.”
Malchman said he is seeking to develop a restaurant at a vacant Granite Street location in Westerly.
The bankruptcy court filing includes a 10-page, room-by-room listing of the Spicer Mansion items for sale. Among them are all manner of furnishings, artwork, flat screen TVs, bedding, linens and one “Upright Piano, Missing Leg.”