A Northern Virginia developer wants to get its hands on Roseland.
Miller and Smith last month filed a plan in the Roseland bankruptcy case in an attempt to gain control and bring new life to the stalled 1,300-acre Chesterfield development. The property has languished in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for more than two years since being threatened with foreclosure.
Click the image above to read the filing. [PDF]
That gave Miller and Smith a seat at the table as a creditor and the chance to try to win over the project’s main creditors, all of which have been waiting for years to be repaid.
In its 84-page explanation, the firm claims that it has the financial wherewithal to get things moving again, that it would inject more than $200 million to spur development and that its plan is Roseland’s creditors’ best chance to recoup the tens of millions of dollars they are owed.
“Miller and Smith has the resources to complete large planned communities like Roseland,” it said in its filing in federal bankruptcy court. “Miller and Smith has established relationships with private equity firms, and joint venture partners. Additionally, Miller and Smith has established relationships with nationally-recognized homebuilders who will post deposits to ensure lots in our large planned communities.”
The company offers Roseland’s creditors, the largest of which are made up of a handful of local lenders, three options.
The first option is a plan that would give secured creditors 40 percent of their claim within 30 days of the project commencing under Miller and Smith’s leadership.
The second proposed option would give the larger creditors up to 75 percent of what they’re owed. Twenty-five percent of that would be paid up front and the rest over time through 2016.
A third option would pay lenders 100 percent of what they’re owed in increments on a quarterly basis, and payments would increase as lots are sold.
Should lenders agree to one of those plans, Miller and Smith also includes a provision that would allow creditors to foreclose on their collateral should the builder not hold up its end of the deal after one year.
Franklin Federal Savings Bank is the largest lender on the project. Other lenders include Virginia Commonwealth Bank, Central Virginia Bank, Essex Bank and HHHunt. More than $40 million is owed to the secured creditors.
Larry Katz, an attorney with Leach Travell Britt representing Miller and Smith, said he would not comment on the plan until after a bankruptcy court hearing set for Wednesday.
At the hearing, a judge will decide whether to let the Miller and Smith plan move forward and be considered by creditors along with a reorganization plan proposed by the owners of Roseland.
Roseland had been proposed in 2008 by developers Buddy Sowers and Casey Sowers as a colossal mixed-use planned community that would have more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial space and more than 5,600 housing units. The land sits south of Route 288 at the intersection with Woolridge Road in Chesterfield County, near Old Hundred and Otterdale roads.
The two entities that owned Roseland’s land were put into bankruptcy in 2011 after it stalled during the housing crisis.
Roseland’s owners filed an initial reorganization plan by which a national homebuilder would buy lots to be developed over time. That never materialized.
In late 2011, the case was ordered into mediation. Again, there was no resolution.
An amended plan was filed this year that would look to split the property’s 1,300 acres into parcels that could be sold to other builders and developers.
Buddy Sowers could not be reached for comment by press time.
Plenty of obstacles stand in the way of both plans, including zoning amendments that would have to be approved by Chesterfield County (which is also a creditor).
Miller and Smith said in its filing that its projected revenue for 2013 is more than $210 million. The company said it has spent $150,000 to study the feasibility of taking over Roseland.
It would put up $22 million to fund its plan for the property, according to the bankruptcy filings. It would finance an additional $184 million with debt and equity.
“I don’t know whether creditors are interested or not,” said Bruce Arkema, an attorney with DurretteCrump representing Roseland. “They are still trying to digest it.”
A Northern Virginia developer wants to get its hands on Roseland.
Miller and Smith last month filed a plan in the Roseland bankruptcy case in an attempt to gain control and bring new life to the stalled 1,300-acre Chesterfield development. The property has languished in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for more than two years since being threatened with foreclosure.
Click the image above to read the filing. [PDF]
That gave Miller and Smith a seat at the table as a creditor and the chance to try to win over the project’s main creditors, all of which have been waiting for years to be repaid.
In its 84-page explanation, the firm claims that it has the financial wherewithal to get things moving again, that it would inject more than $200 million to spur development and that its plan is Roseland’s creditors’ best chance to recoup the tens of millions of dollars they are owed.
“Miller and Smith has the resources to complete large planned communities like Roseland,” it said in its filing in federal bankruptcy court. “Miller and Smith has established relationships with private equity firms, and joint venture partners. Additionally, Miller and Smith has established relationships with nationally-recognized homebuilders who will post deposits to ensure lots in our large planned communities.”
The company offers Roseland’s creditors, the largest of which are made up of a handful of local lenders, three options.
The first option is a plan that would give secured creditors 40 percent of their claim within 30 days of the project commencing under Miller and Smith’s leadership.
The second proposed option would give the larger creditors up to 75 percent of what they’re owed. Twenty-five percent of that would be paid up front and the rest over time through 2016.
A third option would pay lenders 100 percent of what they’re owed in increments on a quarterly basis, and payments would increase as lots are sold.
Should lenders agree to one of those plans, Miller and Smith also includes a provision that would allow creditors to foreclose on their collateral should the builder not hold up its end of the deal after one year.
Franklin Federal Savings Bank is the largest lender on the project. Other lenders include Virginia Commonwealth Bank, Central Virginia Bank, Essex Bank and HHHunt. More than $40 million is owed to the secured creditors.
Larry Katz, an attorney with Leach Travell Britt representing Miller and Smith, said he would not comment on the plan until after a bankruptcy court hearing set for Wednesday.
At the hearing, a judge will decide whether to let the Miller and Smith plan move forward and be considered by creditors along with a reorganization plan proposed by the owners of Roseland.
Roseland had been proposed in 2008 by developers Buddy Sowers and Casey Sowers as a colossal mixed-use planned community that would have more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial space and more than 5,600 housing units. The land sits south of Route 288 at the intersection with Woolridge Road in Chesterfield County, near Old Hundred and Otterdale roads.
The two entities that owned Roseland’s land were put into bankruptcy in 2011 after it stalled during the housing crisis.
Roseland’s owners filed an initial reorganization plan by which a national homebuilder would buy lots to be developed over time. That never materialized.
In late 2011, the case was ordered into mediation. Again, there was no resolution.
An amended plan was filed this year that would look to split the property’s 1,300 acres into parcels that could be sold to other builders and developers.
Buddy Sowers could not be reached for comment by press time.
Plenty of obstacles stand in the way of both plans, including zoning amendments that would have to be approved by Chesterfield County (which is also a creditor).
Miller and Smith said in its filing that its projected revenue for 2013 is more than $210 million. The company said it has spent $150,000 to study the feasibility of taking over Roseland.
It would put up $22 million to fund its plan for the property, according to the bankruptcy filings. It would finance an additional $184 million with debt and equity.
“I don’t know whether creditors are interested or not,” said Bruce Arkema, an attorney with DurretteCrump representing Roseland. “They are still trying to digest it.”