Former Northwoods owner fights to keep Guilderland nursing home

GUILDERLAND — As the owners of the Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care centers watch their four upstate nursing homes sell in bankruptcy court for almost $20 million less than they initially sought, they are now turning to the same court to hold onto another facility.

Eugene Nachamkin’s Guilderland Realty Holdings Corp., which owns the Guilderland Center Nursing Home on Route 146, filed Aug. 20 for Chapter 11 reorganization. Two other Nachamkin companies that provide management services or operate the 127-bed nursing home also sought Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albany.

The filings came a day before a federal judge was expected to take control of the nursing home away from operator Guilderland LTC Management and appoint an interim administrator, or receiver, at the request of Citizens Bank.

The Providence, R.I.-based Citizens Bank in December foreclosed on a $3.5 million mortgage Guilderland Realty received in 2002 — two years after Nachamkin and three other investors bought the Niskayuna-based Northwoods network for $24 million.

Although Guilderland Realty was current on its mortgage payments, Citizens Bank pursued the foreclosure because it was worried over $651,000 in unpaid property taxes. That debt could have resulted in an Albany County tax foreclosure sale, which would “wipe out” the bank’s lien.

“The Guilderland Center is operating on a positive cash flow basis. … The biggest challenge is dealing with the real estate taxes,” said Guilderland Realty attorney Francis Brennan.

Guilderland Realty will likely reorganize be developing a plan to pay off its property taxes over five years, though the nursing home’s sale remains an option. The facility is more than 90 percent occupied, and it paid its 2008-2009 school taxes last week. Guilderland Center’s owners have not hired a broker to market the property, according to Brennan.

“Reorganization is viable,” he said.