Mystic — In the aftermath of Saturday’s foreclosure sale, the Spicer Mansion’s prospective new owner said Wednesday he’s looking forward to the property’s future.

“We’ll work with the town and the community and make this a positive thing,” Ross Weingarten, owner of Sawyer Sheds in Plainfield, said by phone.

Weingarten, 68, who has Amish roots, said he’s a philanthropist.

“It’s a beautiful, historical mansion,” he said of the eight-room boutique hotel whose current owners have run afoul of local zoning regulations. “I want to make it better and increase the number of people coming and staying. ... The more profitable it is, the more we can give away.”

Weingarten said he didn’t know about zoning issues involving the property. He said he had met with town officials in regard to some "very minor" improvements that need to be made. 

Meanwhile Wednesday, filings in New London Superior Court raised questions about whether Weingarten’s $3.52 million bid for Spicer Mansion was sufficient to satisfy all debts claimed by creditors with an interest in the property.

Asserting that proceeds of the sale would be enough to pay all debts, Richard Malafronte, the attorney for Gates Realty, the Spicer Mansion’s current owner, asked the court to cancel this Saturday’s scheduled foreclosure sales of Gates-owned properties in Stonington, Plainfield and Putnam.

Malafronte indicated Weingarten’s bid was based on payoff statements provided by creditors. As of March 12, the creditors — Chelsea Groton Bank, MMP Holdings and Timothy Owens — were owed $3,494,342.07. 

Judge Robert Young denied Malafronte’s request that the foreclosure auctions be canceled.

Chelsea Groton, which is seeking to foreclose on Spicer Mansion and the other Gates-owned properties, said in a filing that Weingarten’s bid doesn’t cover “the ongoing accrual of interest, fees and expenses,” which is accruing at the rate of $725.90 a day.

The bank said it “does not object” to a postponement of the scheduled foreclosure sales until May 21.

In a filing opposing the canceling of the upcoming foreclosure sales, Matthew Wax-Krell, an attorney for Owens, argues that as of Wednesday, the total debt of the three mortgagees plus court costs and fees exceeds Weingarten’s $3.52 million bid.

“The interest will continue to accrue until the closing of the (Spicer Mansion) sale, and much still needs to happen before the sale can take place,” Wax-Krell wrote. “... It is possible that the closing still does not take place for another 45-60 days.”

“Alternatively” he adds, “the Court could postpone the sales scheduled for March 19, 2022 until the closing of the Spicer Mansion foreclosure sale takes place.”

Weingarten, accompanied by a man who declined to identify himself, placed the high bid on Spicer Mansion in the foreclosure sale that took place on the sidewalk outside the hotel. On Wednesday, Weingarten declined to comment when asked if he was being represented by a lawyer.

Also bidding Saturday were Walter “Sonny” Glaser Jr., owner of the Steamboat Inn and other Mystic properties, and Owens, of Avon, who owns the Pizzetta restaurant in Mystic.

The Spicer Mansion foreclosure sale originally had been scheduled for Jan. 29 but was postponed when Brian Gates, the Gates Realty principal, told the court he’d secured a verbal agreement to sell the property for $3,825,000. The prospective buyer, identified as “Spicer Mansion of Mystic LLC,” was Glaser.

Glaser said Saturday that Gates stopped negotiating with him before a deal could be finalized.

Weingarten’s shed-building business in Plainfield is a tenant of a commercial property Gates owns. The two appear together in a YouTube video on the website of Bookwell Travel, an online travel agency Gates owns. Bookwell and Sawyer Sheds have been identified as partners in an effort to develop a community of small living units for homeless veterans.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com