Under new landlord, China Garden remains open for business following auction of property

BELMONT — China Garden, a restaurant located along Daniel Webster Highway, will remain open, and in its current location, after the property it sits in was bought at auction from the town.

The Town of Belmont held an auction for the property Friday afternoon, and the property sold for $700,000 to local developer Kevin Hutchinson, president of KMH Realty Corp., who said he purchased the property to ensure the restaurant would remain there.

“Great food, been here a long time,” Hutchinson said. “It was just the property, we didn’t buy the business. The business will stay open. 

“We look forward to people coming down.”

The auction, run by JSJ Auctions and held on-site at the restaurant, noted terms for the sale including a $10,000 non-refundable deposit at the time of sale, an additional $15,000 deposit due by Feb. 6, and the balance of the purchase price plus 10% buyer’s premium due within 45 days of the sale. 

The sale included the real estate only, no personal property was included. The restaurant remains in operation, as it has for years.

A crowd of about 10 gathered inside the restaurant before 2 p.m. on Jan. 30. Interested parties had an hour before the auction started to view the property. During the auction, four people made bids, but it was Hutchinson who won.

“It is good to see it went to a buyer who seems interested to keep it the restaurant that it is,” said Town Administrator Alicia Jipson. The town is only allowed to retain back taxes, interest and fees. Whatever excess is earned would go back to the former owner. 

The town seized the property from Don Mon Chin, after a lien was placed there on June 23, 2023, for unpaid 2022 property taxes.

According to Belmont’s tax information system, a 2023 bill remained outstanding in the amount of $16,304.74, plus 965 days of interest equaling $5,172.88, plus $39 in other costs, for a total outstanding balance of $21,516.62.

According to a Belknap County Register of Deeds database, a warranty deed recorded in February 1995 indicated that Chin Way Eng, trustee of China Garden Realty Trust, granted the deed to Chin. A power of sale mortgage form, also recorded in February 1995, describes Eng as the lender of $200,000. 

A mortgage subordination agreement, recorded in July 2018, indicates that mortgage was thereafter secondary to another mortgage with Jeffrey Klurfeld and Mi Mon Chin, in the amount of $175,000, and dated July 23, 2018, “so that the lien of Chin Way Eng, Trustee of China Garden Realty Trust, shall be subject and subordinate to the mortgage given by Don Min Chin to Jeffrey Klurfeld and Mi Mon Chin,” according to the document.

Jim St. Jean, of JSJ Auctions, served as auctioneer Friday, and said he’s been in the business for decades, and this was his first time holding an auction inside a running restaurant. Elsewhere, customers dined in and others arrived to pick up take-out orders. 

“We’ll sign the purchase and sales [agreement] and happily be on the road,” St. Jean said. 

JSJ Auctions was retained by the town to sell the property, which was acquired by tax collector’s deed. Hutchinson signed the paperwork immediately following the conclusion of the auction. 

The parcel is commercially zoned and about 0.85 acres in size, and consists of a 2,880-square-foot retail building — the restaurant — and a separate three-bedroom, two-bathroom, raised ranch-style home. The restaurant is one story, wood-framed and has 20 parking spaces, handicap access, a loading platform and a full but unfinished basement. Its assessed value is $943,700, and the 2025 tax bill was $16,411. 

“It has been paid regularly since the town has owned the building,” Jipson said Friday regarding existing lease payments made by the tenants.

China Garden is owned by Wen Liang Lee. Lee and his wife, Yan Zhu, were present during the auction — Lee was in the kitchen, serving up fresh plates the entire time. 

“It’s good, yeah,” Zhu said. “We are staying right here, we’re open since 1962. It’s a long, long time. We are still here.”