Uptown 240 is a partially built condo complex at 240 Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon. (Hilco Real Estate/Vimeo)
In 2023, local Chapter 11 bankruptcies showed us the spooky finances of a year-round Halloween store, the raw figures at a sushi spot, and the broken budgets of a former auto body shop as all three began reorganizing their companies.
Here are five other bankruptcy cases to watch in 2024.
Tattered Cover
The writing was on the wall when Tattered Cover hired a bankruptcy lawyer to be its CEO.
A few months later, in October, the popular bookstore chain filed for bankruptcy, closed three stores and laid off one-fourth of its workers. Its finances have improved since.
The company received a $1.3 million loan from local philanthropists so it could buy books for the profitable holiday season, and plans to emerge from bankruptcy early in 2024.
One hiccup may be $198,000 that former CEO Kwame Spearman says he is owed by Tattered Cover. The company disputes that. Spearman has hired a lawyer.
Holy Ground Tiny Homes
When 2023 began, this Englewood builder of tiny homes owed $6 million to customers who paid for but never received a home and was under investigation for its Las Vegas vacations.
Matt Sowash, founder of Holy Ground Tiny Homes, stands outside a 32-foot home that his nonprofit built. (Image courtesy of YouTube)
That investigation, released in September, uncovered a mound of strange spending at a time when the company was taking in millions of dollars but not delivering homes.
And yet, Holy Ground ended 2023 in better shape than it began. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas McNamara has said that he will likely approve the company’s plan for reorganization if it includes continued monitoring by Jodi Lofstedt, who conducted the investigation.
“When I first saw this case, I really didn’t think there would be any likelihood of success but…it’s headed toward a more positive result than I anticipated,” the judge said Nov. 16.
A hearing to approve the reorganization and end the bankruptcy is set for Jan. 30.
Uptown 240
It has been a roller-coaster year for this half-built condo complex in downtown Dillon.
Its developers, a brother-and-sister duo who have never developed before, declared the project bankrupt in February to avoid a foreclosure sale. Its top debt-holder, the development firm Porritt Group, tried and failed to convince a judge to let it foreclose anyway.
As condo buyers there, who are out $6 million, looked on, Uptown 240’s developers failed to acquire financing and instead listed the property for sale. The bids were low and the top bidder backed out, so Porritt Group is now expected to buy it for $12.75 million.
A hearing to approve that sale is scheduled for the afternoon of Jan. 3 in Denver.
The Pad
Elsewhere in Summit County, a unique hostel-hotel hybrid has a mountain of debt to climb.
The Pad, in Silverthorne, filed for bankruptcy in early October. It reported owing $16.7 million to creditors, though one debt-holder believes that number is actually $21.2 million. It had $2.1 million in revenue last year and $1.9 million in the first nine months of this year.
The Pad was run by a receiver when it went bankrupt but on Dec. 18, its owners and its top lender reached an agreement that will allow the owners to operate it while it seeks $12.3 million in outside financing.
The Pad must pay $75,000 in January and $85,000 monthly after that or else BRMK Lending can sell the property. BRMK can also sell it after May 26 if it is still owed money.
Uptown 240 is a partially built condo complex at 240 Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon. (Hilco Real Estate/Vimeo)
In 2023, local Chapter 11 bankruptcies showed us the spooky finances of a year-round Halloween store, the raw figures at a sushi spot, and the broken budgets of a former auto body shop as all three began reorganizing their companies.
Here are five other bankruptcy cases to watch in 2024.
Tattered Cover
The writing was on the wall when Tattered Cover hired a bankruptcy lawyer to be its CEO.
A few months later, in October, the popular bookstore chain filed for bankruptcy, closed three stores and laid off one-fourth of its workers. Its finances have improved since.
The company received a $1.3 million loan from local philanthropists so it could buy books for the profitable holiday season, and plans to emerge from bankruptcy early in 2024.
One hiccup may be $198,000 that former CEO Kwame Spearman says he is owed by Tattered Cover. The company disputes that. Spearman has hired a lawyer.
Holy Ground Tiny Homes
When 2023 began, this Englewood builder of tiny homes owed $6 million to customers who paid for but never received a home and was under investigation for its Las Vegas vacations.
Matt Sowash, founder of Holy Ground Tiny Homes, stands outside a 32-foot home that his nonprofit built. (Image courtesy of YouTube)
That investigation, released in September, uncovered a mound of strange spending at a time when the company was taking in millions of dollars but not delivering homes.
And yet, Holy Ground ended 2023 in better shape than it began. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas McNamara has said that he will likely approve the company’s plan for reorganization if it includes continued monitoring by Jodi Lofstedt, who conducted the investigation.
“When I first saw this case, I really didn’t think there would be any likelihood of success but…it’s headed toward a more positive result than I anticipated,” the judge said Nov. 16.
A hearing to approve the reorganization and end the bankruptcy is set for Jan. 30.
Uptown 240
It has been a roller-coaster year for this half-built condo complex in downtown Dillon.
Its developers, a brother-and-sister duo who have never developed before, declared the project bankrupt in February to avoid a foreclosure sale. Its top debt-holder, the development firm Porritt Group, tried and failed to convince a judge to let it foreclose anyway.
As condo buyers there, who are out $6 million, looked on, Uptown 240’s developers failed to acquire financing and instead listed the property for sale. The bids were low and the top bidder backed out, so Porritt Group is now expected to buy it for $12.75 million.
A hearing to approve that sale is scheduled for the afternoon of Jan. 3 in Denver.
The Pad
Elsewhere in Summit County, a unique hostel-hotel hybrid has a mountain of debt to climb.
The Pad, in Silverthorne, filed for bankruptcy in early October. It reported owing $16.7 million to creditors, though one debt-holder believes that number is actually $21.2 million. It had $2.1 million in revenue last year and $1.9 million in the first nine months of this year.
The Pad was run by a receiver when it went bankrupt but on Dec. 18, its owners and its top lender reached an agreement that will allow the owners to operate it while it seeks $12.3 million in outside financing.
The Pad must pay $75,000 in January and $85,000 monthly after that or else BRMK Lending can sell the property. BRMK can also sell it after May 26 if it is still owed money.
