(Updated, 12:45 p.m.)

PROVIDENCE – A Boston-based development company and Providence-based Paolino Properties L.P. have purchased the 233 unsold condos at The 903 Residences near Providence Place, saving them from a foreclosure auction that was scheduled for Thursday morning.

Winn Development Co. helped finance the purchase with a $17 million loan from Columbus Bank and Trust Co. of Georgia, said Lawrence H. Curtis, Winn Development’s president and managing partner.

Curtis declined to release the sales price, saying he was bound by confidentiality agreements, and the deed had not been recorded at City Hall as of Thursday morning.

Winn had been in talks with the residence’s primary owner – The Athena Group LLC of New York – for about eight months, he said.

Winn became involved after Paolino Properties realized Athena was in trouble, said former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr., general partner at the firm. He added that he feared The 903’s failure would create a ripple negative effect in the already-struggling condo market.

“I think by us buying it and stepping in, we not only brought a good asset but I think we helped cushion any other potential problems other condo projects might have had,” he said.

Curtis said his company saw an opportunity to purchase the unsold condos in a down market with the aim of selling them at a profit when the economy bounces back. “We look at it as it is: a luxury residence at a great price,” he told Providence Business News.

Many of the unsold units are currently being rented, and Curtis said the company plans to maintain them until the condo market stabilizes.

Winn Development also purchased about 450 parking spaces at the luxury complex, which was once marketed by former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr.

Built in 2004, The 903 contains 330 condos – 97 which have been sold – and a 584-space parking garage. The Athena Group had taken out a $69 million loan to finance project.

Paolino Properties, which was already an investor in the project and has been managing the property, is a partner in the deal led by Winn. Winn will take over management of the property but keep the current staff in place, Curtis said.

Winn Development says it has 30 years of experience in development ventures valued in excess of $1.5 billion. It has developed the Millennium Bostonian Hotel in Boston, One Brookline Place in Brookline, Mass. and Nazing Court in Boston, among other projects. Other divisions of the company have worked on housing and commercial projects around the country.

Additional information is available at the903.com and winncompanies.com.