Over $75 million worth of properties near the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport are scheduled for foreclosure auction on April 29 at the Tompkins County Courthouse.
The foreclosed properties include 17 parcels on Thornwood Drive, Brown Road, Brentwood Drive and Arrowwood Drive, all located on Cornell land and leased to private developers. A parcel refers to a distinct piece of land with defined boundaries, often identified for taxation, ownership and land use purposes.
According to public court records, the Tompkins Community Bank initiated a foreclosure lawsuit against a group of real estate limited liability companies connected to a prolific developer Phil Proujansky, on Jan. 9, 2024.
In the court filings, Harris Beach PLLC, who represented TCB, explained the reason behind foreclosures, stating that the borrowers, real estate LLCs linked to Proujansky defaulted on a $68 million mortgage by failing to make payments since September 2023.
Abby Peterson, the vice president of the marketing communications manager of TCB, wrote in an email to The Sun that the TCB would not provide any further comments on the foreclosures.
“We believe strongly in protecting our customers’ privacy as it relates to their financial relationship with us, and will therefore not make any commentary beyond what has been publicly disclosed,” Peterson said.
Costa Lambrou ’16, the general manager at Lambrou Real Estate, explained the significance of these foreclosures.
“I believe this is the largest real estate foreclosure in Ithaca’s history,” Lambrou said. “And this is just one of the rounds of foreclosures. According to public record there has already been one [round where] Cornell bought the building on College Ave.”
On March 21, the University purchased 301 College Ave. for $15 million. The property was also owned by Proujansky until TCB foreclosed on the property due to unpaid mortgage obligations in February 2024.
Jeremy Thomas, the associate vice president for asset management who oversees all real estate functions of the University, explained the nature of Cornell land leases of the foreclosed properties.
“[The foreclosed properties] are around loans that were made specifically to the improvements on the properties,” Thomas said. “So Cornell does own the land, but those are under a long term ground lease with the entity that actually owns the buildings themselves. … They're responsible for paying the loans that they take out on those buildings.”
Thomas elaborated on the purpose behind land leases, specifically around the Cornell Business & Technology Park, where several of the foreclosed properties are located.
The CBTP is a University-owned research and office park located near the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport that aims to support regional economic development and foster university-industry partnerships.
“The opportunity with the ground lease is that we can retain ownership of the land, but more importantly, we can have an impact on what's developed on that land and how that impacts and benefits either the broader community or the University, students, faculty, staff, other priorities and efforts of the university,” Thomas said.
Specifically, regarding the CBTP, Thomas noted that it hosts research-focused tenants and employs over 1,000 people, facilitating regional economic development.
Thomas said that it is “very unlikely” that the University will acquire the foreclosed properties, although if the bank ends up taking ownership of the properties, the University might consider purchasing them.
Hoping to forge a strong partnership with whomever the next owner of these properties may be, Thomas aims to maintain the CBTP a “thriving place.”
“It is important for us that a [new] owner of these properties comes forward [who] can be a good strategic partner to the universities and the objectives that we have here,” Thomas said. “So we will be a partner with whoever that owner is, and we want to work to find somebody that would be a good partner to the University in the region.”
