Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
Two downtown business properties were sold at a sheriff’s sale Wednesday, but the owner of one of those businesses says his shop will remain open in spite of the foreclosure.
Dallas Pingel, owner of Pingel’s Old Time Sausage Shop, at 528 S. Main St., said he is working with the new owners of the property on a lease or possible rent-to-own agreement that will keep the store operating.
Details were still being worked out, but in the meantime, “I’ll be here for business,” Pingel said.
The shop was open Wednesday, and Pingel said he was taking orders and stocking up on such things as burgers and brats.
“It’s business as usual,” he said.
Associated Bank filed a foreclosure suit against Pingel’s Fenceline Meats, LLC, in May, alleging default on a mortgage. According to court records, $151,826 was due on the debt.
The debt was subsequently purchased from Associated by PrinsBank of Prinsburg, Minn., through a trust fund called Greenwich Investors XLVI Trust, which pools mortgage loans and issues mortgage-backed securities.
Greenwich Investors purchased the property at Wednesday’s sheriff’s sale for $100,000. There were no other bidders.
Also sold off at Wednesday’s sheriff’s sale was the Crescent Pitcher Show, which closed in December.
The property at 220 S. Main St. was purchased by BMO Harris Bank, the sole bidder, for $109,940.
BMO Harris Bank filed a civil suit in August against Routhieaux and his parents, James and Jean, who had taken out the original mortgage on the property in 2005, according to the suit. Routhieaux bought the business from his parents in 2008.
The suit maintained Routhieaux also signed a promissory note backing up the debt.
The original amount of the mortgage was $146,250, according to court documents.
Late in November, Routhieaux announced the theater would have one more weekend run before closing on Dec. 1.
During an interview after he made the announcement, Routhieaux said he was unable to secure financing for the roughly $50,000 he estimated it would cost for the movie house to convert to digital projection.