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A month after Ukrop's Super Market closed its Roanoke store, the grocer's vacant real estate is in foreclosure.

The 58,000-square-foot structure at the Ivy Market retail center on Franklin Road is scheduled to be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction at 11 a.m. Dec. 7 in front of the store, according to a legal notice.

The adjacent Walgreens drugstore, open since August, is not included in this sale.

IMD Investment Group of Troutville is the owner and developer of Ivy Market, an estimated $20 million project. It's unclear how much money IMD owes on this property.

The company is indebted to Pulaski Bank of St. Louis, according to the legal notice. The bank's vice president, James Howard, did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

Bland Painter, who heads IMD, also could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The former Ukrop's structure, its adjacent parking lot and underground parking garage were assessed at $13 million in January, according to city real estate records.

On Tuesday, Sherman Lea, Roanoke's vice mayor, called the pending auction "disappointing."

"That's so unfortunate because we had high hopes for the whole Ivy Market," he said. "It's something the city really worked to make happen."

A potential buyer must close on the property by Dec. 31, the legal notice states.

This auction brings full circle the more than two-year run of Ukrop's in Roanoke. The Richmond-based grocer opened here in June 2007, but in December, Ukrop's executives revealed that the store could not sustain itself long-term if its business did not improve.

The Roanoke Ukrop's shut its doors for good Oct. 24, leaving behind an upscale storefront designed specifically for this family-owned grocery chain that closes on Sundays and does not sell alcohol.

A First Market Bank branch inside the building is scheduled to close Dec. 18.

Last month, Painter said he wanted to find a new retailer to take the place of Ukrop's, though he would not reveal specific prospects.

Meanwhile, it's unclear what will happen to a tax-incentives deal crafted between Roanoke city and IMD based on the performances of Ukrop's and Walgreens.

Brian Townsend, assistant city manager, and Darlene Burcham, city manager, did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

Under the agreement, IMD would receive the amount that Ukrop's and Walgreens generated in tax revenue, up to $600,000, each year for 15 years. The incentives would remain in place if IMD found a new retailer to move into the vacant Ukrop's building. But that retailer must not already have a Roanoke location, according to the agreement.

IMD already has received two incentive payments from the city. Last month, the Roanoke Economic Development Authority cut IMD a check for $506,447. The payment covered tax revenues from Ivy Market from July 1, 2008, to June 30. That amount is less than last year's payment to IMD of $522,542, which was the first since the grocer's opening.

The financial implications of the store's closing for Painter are unclear. Townsend has said that it is in Painter's best interest to find a new retailer for this site, because the developer likely is relying on city incentives to repay loans for the project. The city received inquiries from some interested retailers, and it forwarded those contacts to Painter, Townsend said last month.

But finding a new retailer to move into the Ukrop's space may be an arduous task, local commercial real estate experts have said. The poor economy and the expense of renovating a grocery space for another retailer make it a difficult sell, they said.

On Tuesday, Bob Copty, senior vice president of Thalhimer, a commercial real estate company with a Roanoke office, said he did not know of specific businesses prepared to buy or lease the former Ukrop's site, though "there's been quite a bit of conversation about it."

Staff writer Mason Adams contributed to this report.