Company director Warren Preston doubted it would reopen in Oamaru next tourist season.
The company - which operated a cafe-restaurant, general store, whisky barrel room, whisky tasting and art gallery out of the three-storey Loan and Mercantile building on the corner of Harbour and Wansbeck Sts - was evicted last Thursday by the trust for unpaid rent of about $70,000.
Mr Preston said yesterday that in the four years it had leased the building, rent came to about $200,000, of which it had paid $130,000.
While upset about what had happened, Mr Preston said the publicity had helped move the company forward.
The company had someone signed up to buy land it owned in Queenstown and parties interested in buying barrels of whisky.
"The trust seems adamant that we should pay the rent.
"I hope to do that in a few days so we can move back in and open until at least Queen's Birthday Weekend [June 5 to 7].
"That will stop our losses and get the business going again, although I doubt we will open next season in Oamaru.
"The trust has ensured that, I think," Mr Preston said.
He could not give any details about the long-term future of the company.
Trust chairman Phil Hope said the trust had had "no direct invitation" from the company for a meeting since the notice to vacate was served and the locks changed last Thursday.
"If we do meet, there has to be a very real prospect of reaching a resolution.
"That includes the rent arrears. Our door is still open, but it has been for the past two to 2 years," he said.
The Otago Daily Times has received copies of emails from Mr Preston and supporters.
In one, Mr Preston said: "The problem for us is that all of this carry-on involves our life savings . . . and their possible loss."
In another, Mr Preston outlines various options to recover some or all of the back rent.
He said the company paid out $80,000 to clean and prepare the building for occupation, when its lease stipulated the trust was to provide the building vacant and clean.
That could be offset against rent arrears.
Under the agreement, if the company did not renew its lease, the trust was "legally bound" to pay out 50% of the company's fit-out costs.
Those totalled about $500,000.
Mr Preston also said sale of land in Queenstown and barrels of whisky could pay the rent.
An investment group from Australia was scheduled to visit early next month for evaluation and discussions which could also provide whisky purchases.
Since being evicted, the company has had a lot of support.
Oamaru businessman Brian de Geest, who owns property in the historic precinct, asked whether there was a better solution to eviction.
"The Prestons have come to Oamaru, invested heavily in time, money and emotion and, in many ways, believed in Oamaru more than us locals," he said.
"They have given life and love to a derelict old rundown building, seen something none of us could see and made it a cornerstone in the historic precinct.
"And this is how we treat them.
"No-one is winning and we are all losing," he said.
Otago businessman John Evans is critical of the approach taken by the trust to rentals, suggesting it is preventing attractions from establishing there.
"Many of the businesses are not businesses but together make up a mix of unique attractions which provide Oamaru with a point of difference to showcase its unique Oamaru stone buildings," Mr Evans said.
