The White Inn

MAYVILLE — The Staten Island real estate funding company that holds the White Inn’s mortgage bought the shuttered Fredonia institution at a tax foreclosure sale Friday.

Josh Grunzweig of JG Funding purchased the property for $799,000 at the sale, held inside the Chautauqua County Courthouse. That is the amount currently owed on the mortgage, he said during the sale. The property was listed online by real estate broker Bufffalo Hotel Realty, LLC with an asking price of $1.125 million.

About a dozen other people, including county employees, attended the sale. However, Grunzweig made the only bid.

Former property owner Jeff Gambino, who now resides in Florida, lost the property early in 2018 when JG Funding — which arranged a loan for the mortgage — started court proceedings against him for lack of payment. The foreclosure and sale for back taxes were finalized in January.

Approached by the OBSERVER after the sale, Grunzweig confirmed his name, the company he represented and the dollar amount he bid. When asked what JG Funding’s plans for the property were, he declined to comment.

At the end of the proceeding, the court sale referee asked a similar question about Grunzweig’s plans. “Time will tell,” he replied.

Grunzweig is listed as JG Funding’s president on LinkedIn, an business networking website.

Some of the terms of the sale, as read by the referee at the start of the proceeding, included:

¯ A down payment of 10 percent was required at the time of the sale. The rest of the purchase price must be paid within 30 days of the sale.

¯ Bidding on the property will technically be kept open for that 30-day period, in case the buyer defaults.

¯ The property is getting sold in an “as is and where is” condition.

Gambino reportedly sold off some of the 250,000-square-foot building’s furnishings. It has been closed to the public since late 2017. The dining and bar area closed in December 2016.

In 2018, SUNY Fredonia officials expessed interest in buying the building to convert it into a boutique hotel, restaurant and banquet facility that could accommodate campus guests. Dr. Kevin Kearns, the college’s vice president for advancement, engagement and economic development, did not return an email seeking comment on the tax sale.