The Turtle Lane Playhouse’s long stay in property purgatory is just about over.

The lot, an eyesore falling further and further into disrepair, was placed back onto the auction block Thursday, and according to the McLaughlin & Co., someone bought it.

The identity of the new owner is not yet public.

This was not the first time the property has gone to auction. After the Turtle Lane Playhouse closed in 2013, developer Stephen Vona bought the property with a plan to turn it into a mixed-use development with housing units, commercial space and a new theater.

After years of pushback from neighbors and delays caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, things went off the rails with the project.

In 2023, the bank sued Turtle Lane LLC, Donna Vona, Stephen Vona’s wife, and others involved with the trust, for more than $9.5 million, to recoup a $9.4 million it had loaned them in 2018 for construction of townhouses on the property, plus late fees and other costs.

Also in 2023, the city imposed a work stoppage order after the residential building, constructed without proper permits, was deemed structurally unsafe. Next to it sits the crumbling carcass of the once beloved village playhouse.

In 2025, as the property was set to be auctioned by McLaughlin & Co., Turtle Lane LLC filed for bankruptcy, delaying any auction or sale of the property.

McLaughlin & Co. announced a few weeks ago that it would go back up for auction on Oct. 22, and this time it looks like everything went through. The price is listed at $8,250,000.

What will go there now is anyone’s guess. But the lot where the Turtle Lane Playhouse sits is zoned VC2 (part of the Village Center Overlay District rezoning), which allows for 3 ½ stories by-right.