SACO — An auction for a much-discussed parcel of land in Saco has again been postponed for 60 days.

The property in question is located at 110 Main St., also known as Saco Island East or Factory Island, and was purchased by J&B Partners in 2017 for $1.5 million.

Bernie Saulnier said on April 2  that in the week prior he was granted a 60-day extension for the $350,000 mortgage held by Joan Kurker of Massachusetts to pay the mortgage from a new lending partner.

“The mortgage has been resolved,” said Saulnier in an email.

A notice for the auction was sent to interested parties on March 15 from attorney Jonathan M. Flagg of Flagg Law in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to announce the sale of the property.

The auction, scheduled for Tuesday, March 26, came after a 60-day postponement for the original foreclosure auction on the property scheduled for January. The auction was to take place at the property — outside — and all interested parties who wished to take part in the auction were required to pay a deposit of $20,000.

Saco City Administrator Kevin Sutherland and former Saco City Councilor Kevin Roche showed up for the auction last week. Roche arrived with Dan Colby of Biddeford Savings Bank to attest to his financial stability.

Sutherland received approval from the City Council during a Jan. 7 meeting to participate in the initial auction, scheduled for Jan. 11. That morning the auction was postponed for 60 days.

Sutherland wrote in a March 28 email that should the property be sold to someone other than the city, the $20,000 deposit will be returned to the city of Saco.

“At this point, because of all the postponements, I believe the firm is not holding a check from the city,” Sutherland wrote.

Saulnier had presented a project plan titled, “The Waters,” to the Planning Board during an August 2018 site walk of the 5.8 acre parcel that featured two condominiums, retail space, a boutique hotel developed by Jim Brady of the Press Hotel in Portland, and the second location of Nonesuch River Brewing, a project estimated to generate $800,000 in annual property tax revenue for the city of Saco.

As no official notice was sent to announce the cancellation of the auction, Sutherland and Roche waited nearly 20 minutes past the scheduled noon start time before assuming that the auction was, indeed, postponed. Prior to leaving, Roche called Flagg Law offices, and when he received no answer, decided to leave.

“I told myself two things: I wasn’t going to bid against the city of Saco, and I wasn’t going to let this take up too much of my time,” Roche said before leaving. “I think we’ve waited long enough.”

Roche confirmed later that an inquiry to the law firm yielded a single-sentence response that the auction was postponed for another 60 days. While Saulnier has made arrangements with the lending party to resolve the mortgage, the auction date will stand until the resolution is finalized.

Roche said he would not be interested in buying the property for personal use should it go to auction, but was there on behalf of other interested parties. Roche has been a proponent of The Waters project and said during a later interview that he thinks there is potential for a great project there.

“I loved The Waters project,” Roche said. “I still think it’s a great idea.”

Plans to move forward with The Waters came to a halt in late 2018 when the Saco River Corridor Commission moved to table approval due to environmental concerns.

“I think that they’ll have trouble finding a buyer because everything is up in the air with what they’ll approve to go there,” Roche said. “They don’t know what the city will allow, or what the Saco River Corridor will allow. There’s no clear path.”

Contact Staff Writer Abigail Worthing at news@inthecourier.com.