Monday, March 5, 2012

Fontainebleau's Soffer caught by Lehman Bros. bankruptcy - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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“When the retail division of the project lost access to fundinythrough Lehman, it was unable to repay the resort for its shar e of costs,” said Scott Baena, of Bilzin Sumberbg Baena Price Axelrod, who represents Fontainebleau Las Vegasx LLC in the bankruptcy. “That put enormous streses on theresort entity, and that was the beginning of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC and two of its affiliatez filed bankruptcy petitions in Miami late Tuesday. The Fontainebleai Miami Beach is not includedd inthe filing.
Soffer, also principap with Turnberry construction anddevelopment companies, has personal guarantees on portions of the retail component of the Las Vegaes project, but those portions are not in bankruptcy yet, Baenq said. The complex is 70 percent SinceDecember 2008, Lehman refused to make any advancess under the project’s $315 million construction loan, accordint to a motion to maintain cash management filedr in the bankruptcy. After Lehman’s refusals, money stopped flowinf through the retail entity to theresorf entity. In March, other lenders pulled their financing, and constructioj on the resort stoppedin May, Baenaa said.
The company said in a news release that the decisionj to file Chapter 11 was the result of litigation with the other lenders on projec aboutnearly $800 million in construction funding for the Other lenders include , JPMorgan Chase Bank and Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas. In the short term, the company is seeking to stabilizew and protect the finished portion of the Baena said. “It’s no longerd possible to downsize the he said. “The 30 percent remaining constructiobn is principallythe interior. We’ve got a lovelu building waiting tobe finished.

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