The Turtle Lane Playhouse in Auburndale has sat vacant for a dozen years now, and it could soon have a new owner.

McLaughlin & Co. Auctioneers LLC has announced that the property, located at 283 Melrose St., is headed to the auction block on Thursday.

Prospective buyers will have the chance to see the property on Tuesday, according to the announcement on the McLaughlin & Co. website.

And the sale requires a deposit of $100,000 or 10 percent of the highest bid, paid by the bidder to the property mortgage holder.

“It’s a great location in a wonderful village, near shops, a community library and the commuter rail,” Charles River Regional Chamber President Greg Reibman wrote in a recent Chamber newsletter.

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.

The project was reduced in size a couple of times over the past several years, and after years of pushback from neighbors and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023 the city imposed a work stoppage order after the residential building was deemed structurally unsafe.

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.

Thursday’s auction may decide the next chapter in the Melrose Street property’s story.