Sneakers Sports Grille on Point Meadows Drive will likely shut its doors in the next couple of weeks after CenterState Bank of Florida acquired the property in a foreclosure sale Wednesday.
CenterState filed a foreclosure suit in Duval County Circuit Court last year against Sneakers Sports Grille Point Meadows Inc., and Circuit Judge Harvey Jay entered a judgment in favor of CenterState in January and ordered the sale.
The other Sneakers restaurant in Jacksonville Beach was not part of the lawsuit and is not affected by the foreclosure.
The bank expects to gain title to the restaurant near the intersection of Baymeadows Road and Interstate 295 in 10 to 15 days, said Christian George, an attorney at Akerman LLP who is representing CenterState.
Once CenterState gains title, it plans to close down the restaurant and market the property for sale, although the current owners could shut it down before that.
“CenterState has no intention of running the restaurant,” George said.
“Unfortunately, CenterState tried to work with the restaurant for years but ultimately, the restaurant failed,” he said.
Both Sneakers restaurants filed separate Chapter 11 reorganization petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville in 2012.
Sneakers in Point Meadows opened in 2006 and was owned by Nicholas and Susan Pratt, according to bankruptcy court documents. Sneakers in Jacksonville Beach was opened in 2001 by Gregory Pratt, Nicholas’ brother.
The Jacksonville Beach restaurant emerged from bankruptcy in September 2012, while the Point Meadows restaurant emerged in March 2013.
CenterState was the largest creditor of the Point Meadows restaurant and agreed to the debt reorganization plan that was confirmed by the court.
However, in May 2014, CenterState filed a notice in bankruptcy court alleging the restaurant defaulted on the reorganization plan by not paying ad valorem real estate and tangible personal property taxes that were due on March 31, 2014.
A week later, CenterState filed the foreclosure lawsuit, saying Sneakers breached its mortgage agreement by not paying those taxes. The bank asked for immediate payment of the $3.3 million still owed on the loan.
According to court documents, Sneakers entered into a forbearance agreement with the bank in August in which it consented to entry of a summary final judgment if it didn’t satisfy the debt, and also waived all defenses to the lawsuit.
CenterBank filed a motion for summary judgment in November, which was granted in January with a foreclosure auction set for Wednesday.
When no other bidders emerged at the auction, CenterState was awarded the property.
According to Duval County property records, the 18,149-square-foot restaurant on 2.61 acres has an assessed value of $2.876 million.
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