KALAMAZOO, MI -- Two months after a mortgage foreclosure notice was filed for Arcadia Brewing Co., the Kalamazoo brewery is now also one step closer to facing potential tax foreclosure for delinquent 2016 property taxes.

Amid that uncertainty, Arcadia founder and CEO Tim Suprise continues to speak optimistically about strategic partnerships expected to play a role in the brewery’s future.

Unpaid property taxes on Arcadia’s property at 701 E. Michigan Ave. include $5,163.63 assessed in 2016 and another $90,740.20 in 2017, according to the Kalamazoo County Treasurer’s office.

Michigan’s General Property Tax Act lays out the legal process for seizing property with unpaid taxes more than a year delinquent. This process resulted in Arcadia Brewing being placed on the Kalamazoo County list for tax foreclosure in March 2018.

To avoid tax foreclosure, Arcadia must pay $5,332.42, which includes the delinquent 2016 property taxes and a fee of 1.5 percent per month, assessed starting in the second year of tax delinquency, Kalamazoo County Treasurer Mary Balkema said. A final petition for tax foreclosure on the property was filed and a final foreclosure hearing was held Monday, Feb. 4, in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

The total owed must be paid by April 1, or the property’s title could be forfeited to the Kalamazoo County Treasurer’s office.

But Arcadia’s mortgage lender, First National Bank of Michigan, will likely pay the amount due before the April deadline to protect their interest in the property, Balkema said, especially because the dollar amount of 2016 delinquent taxes owed is so low when compared to the value of the property itself.

Since early December, Arcadia founder and CEO Tim Suprise has told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette that the company has been in the process of engaging with potential strategic partners since early 2018. But Suprise said he could not disclose further details until the final stage of the process was complete.

While details about a potential partnership still cannot be disclosed, Suprise said he still does not anticipate foreclosure. Suprise said he participated in a four-hour-long strategic meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 6, to discuss a potential deal and expects to be able to disclose further information within the week.

“Until it’s all signed and executed, of course, it’s not a deal, but we have been working very, very hard for the last several weeks to get this across the finish line and what I can tell you is that we’re almost there," Suprise said.

“There’s no question” Arcadia’s delinquent 2016 taxes will be paid long the April 1 deadline arrives, Suprise said.

“This is going to have a good ending to it,” he said.

In December, a mortgage foreclosure sale notice was filed for the Arcadia property, stating $1,409,677.12 was still left on the mortgage.

The mortgage through First National Bank of Michigan was originally $3.2 million in 2013.

A foreclosure auction was initially set for Thursday, Dec. 20, but was adjourned. A second auction was scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 6, but was also adjourned, according to certified court officer Karen Hencken, who handles mortgage foreclosures for Kalamazoo County.

This means the auction is postponed for the next seven days, with the next possible auction date being Wednesday, Feb. 13, Hencken said.

Suprise attributes Arcadia Brewing Company’s recent financial challenges to a dramatic change in the beverage alcohol industry over the past five years. Factors that contribute to the changing landscape include strategic acquisitions of small and large craft breweries by larger brewing entities and private equity and strategic alliances entering the industry, he said.

Suprise said changes in the industry coincided with Arcadia making its investment in the Kalamazoo location of Arcadia Brewing Company.

The property is the site where a coal-burning Consumers Energy power plant stood for decades. The land sat vacant for about 20 years before Suprise bought it from the Kalamazoo Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

Valued at $88,000, Suprise bought the parcel for $5,000 and has worked with the authority to remove contaminated soil and underground infrastructure.

The $7 million, 30,000-square-foot building, which opened in May 2014, includes a brewpub, offices as well as brewing and packaging space for the brewery.

On top of the company’s investments, Arcadia Brewing received $1 million in grants from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The city also promised to secure a $200,000 low-interest loan and provide $120,000 in tax increment incentives.

Suprise said it was important that the company make decisions to take care of staff and associates, maintain its role as a community partner and continue positive relationships with distributing and retail partners and vendors.

“We’ve long believed that we’ve been an anchor of a business to give attention to the river’s edge area where we’re located. We believe very strongly in out community ties," Suprise said. "We continue to do a lot of nonprofit engagement with groups in the area and we look forward to that. That’s been our mission and we’re going to get it done.”

A Battle Creek location of Arcadia Brewing Co. closed its doors late 2017, with plans to find a new space and restart sometime in 2018.

The company has not yet announced plans to open a new space in Battle Creek, but did open a location in Lansing last year. Arcadia partnered with Lansing-area restaurant group Urban Feast, founded by developer Kris Elliott, to open Arcadia Smokehouse in Lansing’s East Side neighborhood.