More than a year after Memphis’ tallest building went into foreclosure, 100 North Main has been reclaimed by the lender. THM Memphis Acquisitions LLC effectively bought the 37-story office tower at a foreclosure auction on the courthouse steps after the property failed to receive any bids.

After more than a year of delays, the lender seeking to sell the 100 North Main Building has reclaimed the property at auction for $1 million. (Daily News File/Andrew J. Breig)

A substitute trustee’s deed for the $1 million transaction was recorded with the Register’s Office Thursday, Jan. 11.

The tower went into foreclosure in late 2016 when then-owner IHM Memphis LLC defaulted on the $2.8 million loan through Shadow Tree Income Fund B LP, THM Funding LLC, Conrad Partners LLC, Nils Brous and Keiter Group LLC. IHM had taken out that loan when it purchased the 100 North Main Building in August 2015 for $5 million.

The foreclosure auction, originally set for November 2016, was delayed numerous times before the lenders assigned the loan to THM Memphis LLC, an entity affiliated with New York-based real estate firm Townhouse Management Co.

William P. Morris III, an attorney with Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh PLLC who served as substitute trustee for the sale, said he doesn’t know what THM’s plans are for the property.

The foreclosure sale is the latest chapter in a series of recent struggles for 100 North Main, which was built in 1965 and spans the block between North Main and North Second streets on the south side of Adams Avenue.

The building faced years of declining tenant rates before One Hundred North Main LLC bought it in 2013 for $5 million. Developer Yitzchok “Isaac” Thomas, who owned the limited liability company, proposed redeveloping 100 North Main into a mixed-use project with residential and commercial space and a hotel, but struggled to line up the financing.

The future of the project became increasingly uncertain – even after the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2015, making it eligible for tax credits and grants that could help fund the redevelopment.

With delinquent utility bills topping $86,000 by June 2015, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division appeared poised to cut service to the tower. But three of the city’s major hospital systems told MLGW that disconnecting power could disrupt communication equipment they used for their hospitals’ paging systems. Leading Edge, which provided communications equipment for local hospitals, twice paid to keep the utilities on for another month.

Thomas’ company sold the building to IMH in August 2015, but the building continued to decline under new ownership.

A small fire broke out on the 34th floor last March. The owners had previously been cited in Shelby County Environmental Court for several violations, including fire alarms that didn’t work.

Daily News staff contributed to this article.