Buying property for less than its assessed value is a bargain. Getting it for a penny on the dollar is fabulous. For work already done, without any more out of your pocket? Priceless.

Maybe that’s not quite the way Bob Mitchell feels – what with legal fees, hassles and non-payment for work forcing him into court – but as the new owner of the Leelanau Hills project in Suttons Bay, he still must be feeling good.

Not to mention surprised. His engineering and surveying company, Bob Mitchell & Associates of Kingsley, had done work on the BayView development, of which Leelanau Hills is the second phase. But when it came time to get paid, the check wasn’t in the mail.

So Mitchell took legal recourse and sued developer Marcus Yono of Brighton for the $82,000 due to him. Imagine his surprise when no one bothered to show at the sheriff’s sale, leaving him the owner of the 45-acre development.

“We had done work for Mr. Yono on Phase 1 on the water, and Phase 2 on the hill,” Mitchell said. “He didn’t pay the whole bill. We went through the legal process.”

BayView has seen a series of legal and lending challenges. The investment company Flathead Michigan I acquired some of the outstanding notes on the project. Other companies that did work on the project settled with one or more of the lenders, leading Mitchell to wonder why his debt wasn’t settled, as well as why he ended up with the property.

“It’s a convoluted process,” said Mitchell. “There were three lenders, and I’m not sure why they didn’t protect their interest.”

Neither Yono nor his attorney, Michael Ostrosky, could be reached for comment.

According to Kit Wilson, the Suttons Bay Township Assessor, the property’s SEV is $3,196,970, resulting in a true value of $6,393,940. Quite a buy for that $82,000 lien.

Mitchell says there is a lot of work to be done before the properties can be marketed and sold the way it was originally intended.

“I’m exploring all my options,” Mitchell said, “whatever works best.” That includes selling the entire property outright, developing the lots and infrastructure, finishing the buildings already started or building complete homes.

Mitchell declined to give specific sale prices for the improved lots, but he said he believes 25 to 30 of the 100 lots in Leelanau Hills will, in his words, “be on the upper end (pricewise) of building lots. They have fantastic views, village sewer and water.”

Whatever the result, Mitchell does have a timetable in mind. “There will be finished development lots on the market no later than June 1 of next year,” he said.