A lawsuit filed by the city of Hobart against the owner of the shuttered Villa Del Sol restaurant will be dismissed, now that the owner has paid the city in full for money he owed on the mortgage.
City Attorney Heather McCarthy said owner Sergio Gutierrez, managing member of Puerto Del Sol LLC of Merrillville, wired the $158,681.40 owed on the mortgage recently.
“The case will be dismissed and my understanding is the building is for sale,” McCarthy said.
Owner Sergio Gutierrez had entered into an agreement with the city on Aug. 17, 2016, to purchase the former Hobart Police Station at 200 Main St. for $180,000.
According to the lawsuit, Gutierrez executed and delivered a personal guaranty of promissory note and mortgage on Sept. 29, 2016, with the City of Hobart named as payee.
McCarthy said at the time that Gutierrez paid the initial $18,000 of the $180,000 at or before the 2016 closing with the remainder to be paid through five equal installments of $32,400 by 2022. But McCarthy said Gutierrez paid nothing after the initial $18,000, leading the city to file the lawsuit in Lake Superior Court in September.
The 7,800-square-foot building is located on Lake George in downtown Hobart. It’s listed on the Ginter Realty website for $525,000.
Gutierrez did considerable remodeling in the former police building, including putting on a new façade.
He closed and reopened the restaurant, then ended up closing it for good.
Gutierrez also closed a landscaping firm he owned off U.S. 30, called Wilkerson Creek Quarry, is 2018. That property, on 11.34 acres next to Stardust Bowl, is listed for sale at $990,000.
An engineer representing Gutierrez told the city’s plan commission last year that the landscaping business wasn’t profitable.
Gutierrez also owned a Villa Del Sol restaurant in Merrillville, but that has reportedly been sold as well.
Gutierrez could not be reached for comment.
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