Los Angeles’ mega-mansion ‘the One’ now bankrupt
By Steven Church and John Gittelsohn | Bloomberg
The developer of one of the largest homes ever built in the United States – with a ditch and a 30-car garage – has filed for bankruptcy to prevent lenders from foreclosing on Los Angeles property.
Nicknamed “The One”, the mansion was being developed by Crestlloyd LLC when a brawl broke out with lenders, including Hankey Capital. The lenders went to Los Angeles court claiming they were not being paid, court documents show. Eventually, a receiver was appointed to manage the project.
Crestlloyd “believes the receiver has hampered efforts to complete the property, as well as to market, display and sell the property in its current state,” the company said in bankruptcy court documents.
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Ted Lanes, the court-appointed receiver, declined to comment on Wednesday.
“I’m disappointed,†Don Hankey, who specializes in sub-prime auto finance, said of the bankruptcy filing. “All we want is our capital back.”
Hankey, who has loaned more than $ 82.5 million for the project, announced a forced sale of the property on Wednesday.
Real estate developers sometimes use bankruptcy to prevent lenders from foreclosure. Under Chapter 11 rules, lawsuits, including state foreclosure actions, are suspended to give a business the opportunity to reorganize and write off debts.
“The One” is worth around $ 325 million, but has only $ 176 million in secured loans attached to the property, Crestlloyd said in court documents. Even though the property sells for half of its original price of $ 500 million, there is still plenty of value left to pay off all the debts, Crestlloyd said.
Lanes planned to list the house for $ 225 million. The 105,000 square foot (9,750 square meters) main house – almost twice the size of the White House – features four swimming pools, a two-story waterfall, a nightclub, a cinema, a four-lane bowling alley, a lounge. beauty, spa, gym and cigar room.
The case is Crestlloyd LLC, 21-bk-18205, US Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).