The assets of Lebanon's now defunct Ice Cream Factory sold for more than $5 million in a foreclosure auction on Monday.
Lee Viorel of Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law LLC, was appointed as a trustee by Heritage Bank of the Ozarks and conducted Monday's auction process. John Gideon of Heritage Bank of the Ozarks was present at the auction and was the only bidder.
The first tract consisted of three parcels of property that were the manufacturing buildings, all labeled number 17 as shown on the map drawn up by assessors. All three parcels sold together as a whole for $4,900,000 to Heritage Bank of the Ozarks.
The second tract was an almost 12-acre parcel of land south of the manufacturing buildings, labeled as number 5 on the map, and sold to Heritage Bank of the Ozarks for $200,000. Viorel said there were unpaid taxes for 2025 and 2026 on this parcel, and that on Friday, there was a lien filing for architectural fees by ARCO Construction Company.
After the auction took place Monday, October 26 on the Laclede County Courthouse steps, Viorel said there will be an inspection of the interior of the buildings, which includes looking at the equipment, on the following day, October 27, and will be auctioned out at a later date.
Viorel said that Monday’s sale was a foreclosure on a Deed of Trust previously recorded in a notice that ran in the Laclede County Record.
“The bank was owed money by ICF,” Viorel said in a Monday interview. “It defaulted and didn’t pay and the bank looked to its security, which was the real property at 1201 Ice Cream Way and a foreclosure sale was had today on that Deed of Trust, and bank bid a certain amount of its debt and based on that, the bank is going to record a deed, with respect to the real property.”
Viorel said, “There was a Deed of Trust recorded before the city had any interest in the property and that Deed of Trust was foreclosed on today because of failure to pay and default.”
Viorel said the Ice Cream Factory owed the bank a large amount of money and failed to pay it back, so the bank foreclosed on the property. The bank bid a certain amount toward the debt and will officially record a deed to the property. He also said that the bank had a legal claim on the property before the city ever had interest in it.
He said information on the status of the property would need to come from the city.
The city said in an earlier statement that it retains ownership of the property through a Chapter 100 agreement that provided tax breaks for the business.
Following the conclusion of the auction, City Communication Manager Derek Gean said the city retains ownership of the building through the tax abatement agreement for another seven years.
"As part of the foreclosure process, the city can either continue the tax abatement and recognize a new buyer/operator, or release the tax abatement, which would transfer the title of the building to the new owner," Gean said. "Our intention is to work with Heritage Bank of the Ozarks to identify a new owner or tenant for the facility."
Steve Smith of the Laclede County Record contributed to this report.
