ALTAMONT — After a stressful couple of months, physical therapist Brian Thornton is exultant this week. He bid for 10 minutes against another person at a foreclosure auction Tuesday, and then was able to purchase the Maple Avenue building that he’s rented for six years.
"I’m an owner," he told The Enterprise Tuesday afternoon. "My head is still reeling."

Thornton now plans on expanding his office, at 122 Maple Ave., and retiring in Altamont.

Last week, he told The Enterprise of his frustration with Capital Bank’s foreclosing on the building.

Thornton moved to the building and started his own practice in October of 1999. Capital Bank took over management of the building when Thornton’s landlord, Dwight Mathusa, filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

In 2004, Thornton signed a contract to purchase the property from Mathusa, doing business as Dwight Properties, and put a small downpayment on it, he said.

At the beginning of 2005, Thornton found out that, instead of allowing him to purchase the building, the bank was foreclosing on it. He doesn’t know why, he said.

A spokesperson from Capital Bank could not be reached for comment by The Enterprise last week.

Thornton told The Enterprise about the foreclosure sale last week because, he said, he wanted to set the record straight.
"It gives the impression that I’m not paying my bills," he said then of the foreclosure sign. "It’s affecting my business negatively."

At Tuesday’s auction at the Albany County Courthouse, Thornton said one other person bid for the building.
"We went at it for about 10 minutes," Thornton said. Thornton was nervous, he said, because he didn’t know the man’s price ceiling.
"We were getting pretty close to my walk-away point," he said.

Thornton declined to tell how much he paid for the building. But, he said, it was higher than he expected since several years of taxes were owed for the building.
"That was a little disappointing," Thornton said. "But, that’s the nature of the beast. I have more interest in the building than anybody else."

Thornton has already put some of his own money into the building, he said last week. He paid $7,000 to repair a leaking roof and other expenses for repairs that a landlord normally would make, he said.

His complaints about the condition of the building echoed those of Dr. Hedy Migden, who rented office space in the back of the building until last year.

Capital Bank tried to evict Migden for not paying rent in 2004; she told The Enterprise she was holding the rent payments in an escrow account until the repairs were made. The bank later dropped the eviction charges and Migden moved out.

Thornton hopes his purchase of the building will be official by the end of this year, he said Tuesday. In 2006, he will expand his office to the back of the building and possibly rent space to other doctors, he said.
He concluded, "I want to thank everyone who supported me and prayed for me. It’s a nice end to a long, drawn-out affair."