IBC Bank took over ownership of the Schlitterbahn Riverpark & Resort on North Padre Island at a foreclosure auction Tuesday after a bankruptcy trustee failed to find another buyer.

The bank bid $20 million of the roughly $32 million it’s owed by the previous owner of the park, resort and surrounding land, according to San Antonio lawyer Jon Lowe, who conducted the auction. No one else submitted a bid.

As the park’s largest secured creditor, the bank made a “credit bid” against the debt on the property instead of putting up cash. It’s not clear if there are personal guarantees the bank can pursue against the previous owner’s principals to make up the roughly $12 million difference between what the bank bid and what it’s owed.

IBC Bank CEO Dennis Nixon said the bank wants to quickly find a new owner.

“Occasionally we have a customer who the wheel comes off,” Nixon said in an interview last week. “But we’re hopeful that this will be a transient process and we’ll own it for a very short period of time.”

Nixon added, “We’re going to take charge of it and move on.”

The foreclosure sale came a year to the day that Upper Padre Partners, formed to build and manage the park and a surrounding development, entered bankruptcy protection to thwart a foreclosure the following day on 270 acres by an Austin lender.

The bankruptcy occurred amid a feud among its three principals, New Braunfels-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts principals Gary Henry and Jeffrey Henry, and Paul Schexnailder, a major North Padre Island land owner.

A Chapter 11 trustee was subsequently appointed to find a buyer for the park and 92-room hotel on 28 acres, along with a 74-acre, nine-hole golf course and two undeveloped tracts totaling 102 acres.

Efforts to find a buyer were hurt by Jeffrey Henry’s recent indictment on second-degree murder and other charges in connection with the death of a 10-year-old boy who was killed on a ride in 2016 at Schlitterbahn’s Kansas City, Kansas park, the trustee’s lawyer said in bankruptcy court two weeks ago.

Backstory: Schlitterbahn's Corpus park has two weeks to find buyer or face foreclosure

The trustee had received multiple offers in the mid-$20 million range for property. But a lawyer for IBC Bank told a bankruptcy judge it was not inclined to take a loss on a sale.

The bank took title to the property under the name Diamond Beach Holdings. Both the bank and Schlitterbahn issued statements saying the park will continue operating as a “licensed” Schlitterbahn Riverpark & Resort. Schlitterbahn will market and operate the park for the new owner.

RELATED: Lender says Schlitterbahn indictments may jeopardize $174 million in loans

A lawyer for Schexnailder didn’t immediately respond to a phone call.

It’s scheduled to open May 26 for Memorial Day weekend.

The park had been marketed for sale by New York brokerage Keen-Summit Capital partner. The property has been described on Keen-Summit’s website as a $70 million development.

The Schlitterbahn Riverpark & Resort was supposed to be a centerpiece of a massive development that would include residential properties, a marina and a waterfront experienced modeled after San Antonio’s River Walk.

The 25-year project reportedly was expected to be worth $552 million. But it crumbled under a falling out between Upper Padre Partners’ principal investors.

Read more: Lender says Schlitterbahn indictments may jeopardize $174 million in loans

Schexnailder, who contributed the land for the the development, accused the Henrys of fraud, conspiracy and malfeasance, among other allegations, in an arbitration proceeding.

Schexnailder railed against the Henrys and their various entities for failing to cover cost overruns for the water park and resort. He said the cost ballooned to $58 million, more than double the original budgeted cost of up to $27.3 million.

In December, Austin lender Axys Capital Credit Fund took over 270 acres surrounding the from Upper Padre Partners at a foreclosure sale. Axys bid $9 million against debt on the land. It has said Upper Padre Partners owed it more than $18 million.

Now that the IBC Bank has taken over the remaining part of the development, a Wednesday hearing is set in bankruptcy court on a motion by the U.S. Trustee’s office to dismiss Upper Padre Partners’ bankruptcy.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | pdanner@express-news.net | @AlamoPD