$5.3 Million Foreclosure Fight Targets Waterbury’s 19 Properties, Including Sylvan Beach Park and Sterling Festival Land

CNYonline.com | Local News October 20, 2026

CENTRAL NEW YORK — A reported foreclosure action against landlord Douglas Waterbury targets 19 properties, putting residential rentals and land associated with two well-known regional attractions at the center of a multimillion-dollar mortgage dispute.

According to reporting by Syracuse.com and Oswego County News Now, the properties include Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, Sterling Renaissance Festival land, and rental properties in Oswego and Morrisville.

Lender Claims More Than $5.3 Million Is Owed

The reports describe an October filing in New York State Supreme Court by Green Lakes LLC, a Tully-based lender.

The lender alleges that more than $5.3 million is owed in connection with missed mortgage payments and interest, and is seeking repayment along with attorneys’ fees.

Those figures represent the lender’s claims. The information provided does not establish that a final foreclosure judgment or sale has been ordered.

Local Attractions and Housing Are at Stake

The reported action reaches beyond Waterbury’s apartment holdings to properties associated with destinations familiar to generations of Central New York families.

However, the filing alone does not establish that either attraction will close. The materials available for this article do not confirm an auction date, an ownership transfer or changes to future operating schedules.

Separate Criminal Cases and Civil History

The mortgage dispute comes against the backdrop of separate criminal allegations against Waterbury.

WRVO reported in March that he had been charged with attempted rape, attempted bribery and patronizing a person for prostitution, as well as stalking in a separate incident. Those were charges, not findings of guilt; that March report does not establish the cases’ current status.

In 2019, a federal consent decree required Waterbury and his co-defendants to pay $850,000 in damages and civil penalties to resolve two lawsuits alleging sexual harassment of female tenants and prospective tenants. The decree also barred him from participating in residential rental or property management activities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The foreclosure dispute concerns alleged mortgage defaults and remains separate from those criminal allegations and earlier civil proceedings.