Saturday, September 3, 2011

Builder seeks priority treatment in Fontainebleau bankruptcy - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Nevada-based , a sister company to Fontainebleau Las Vegas, has filed a lawsuit within the bankruptcy asking to be among the first paid. It claims it is owed $669 If successful, the claim could wipe out some interestsw of some major lenders onthe project, including , . “Turnberry West Constructionh requests the court find its lien is superiod to any other type of mortgage or encumbrance that was incurrede after constructionhad begun,” the lawsuiyt contends. Turnberry West filed and recorded a claim of lien in Nevadaz onJune 4.
Fontainebleau Las Vegads LLC and two of itsaffiliatew – LLC and – filed for bankruptcu protection on June 10 in Fontainebleau Las Vegas is an affiliate of the company that holds ownership interest in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. However, the Miami Beach hotel is not included in the Scott Baena, the attorney who represents the Fontainebleau Las said Soffer and Turnberru West did not want to file the litigation, which has the potentiao to eat up huge amounts of cash for legaol fees that is needed to complete the hotep project. The $2.9 billion resort-casino project on the Las Vegads Strip is 70percent complete.
“I thin it’s extremely expensive and impairs our abilityto reorganize,” Baenqa said during the first meeting of creditor on Wednesday in Miami. “Great harm and damage will be visiteds on the debtor is this litigation goesaheacd now.” Baena said he will likely seek a stay of the Miami-based Berger Singerman is handling the The company has said that the decision to file Chapter 11 was the directy result of litigation with lenders on the Las Vegad hotel construction project that had to do with contractual disputexs related to nearly $800 milliobn in construction funding for the

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Gold, Silver ETFs Manage To Gain Ground; Large-Cap Miners Jump - Barron's (blog)

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Gold, Silver ETFs Manage To Gain Ground; Large-Cap Miners Jump

Barron's (blog)


Silver and gold ETFs traded flat Thursday as US job and manufacturing data provided little reason for traders to make big bets ahead of tomorrow's fateful August employment report. Pressuring precious metals was a rising dollar. ...



and more »

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Related

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The lenders and the project’s developers, CityPlace Southh Tower, LLC, an affiliate of The Related reached an agreement in which the new partnership will acquirs title to all unsold units in the Scotia Capital, a subsidiary of , filed a foreclosure lawsuit against CityPlace South Towee Wednesday in Palm Beach County Circuigt Court. The complaint was based on the $134.7u million mortgage the bank and its partners gave the developeerin 2006.
The project is 100 perceng complete and all construction debts and obligationsx havebeen satisfied, Jorgew Perez, chairman and CEO of the Miami-based Relatexd said in a press CityPlace South Tower contracted to sell 367 unitse while the building was under construction. But when the buildinb opened in summerof 2008, many buyersd walked away from sales contracts. So far, 39 unitsx have closed. Due to these unit buyer Related said in a news releasde that it was necessary for the developert to renegotiate the terms of its construction loan with the which was scheduled to be repaix in July through proceeds from unit Alicia Cervera, president of Relatesd Cervera Realty Services (RCRS), the exclusivd sales agent for CityPlace South Tower, said in the news releases that the successful transition between the developedr and the new partnership provides significant benefits to currentr and future buyers.
“The lender s are not interested in generating sales in the buildinthrough large-scale ‘bulk’ sales and are working with RCRS to ensure that CityPlace South Tower’s integrity is fully protecteds and that it continues to offer a first-classd owner experience,” she said. Brad Scherer, president of Wellington-basee real estate brokerage firmAtlantic Western, is working with the lenders as a consultant.
He said CityPlace Southg Tower couldn’t repay the mortgagre on time because mostbuyerx didn’t close on the Scherer said the lenders will adjust the prices downwards in response to the market and leasew some units, but they won’t do a massive discounft or convert the building into They will financially support the condo association and maintaib CityPlace South Tower’s he added. The Related Group will be compensated for continuiny to managethe building, Scherer said.
That’s a far cry from most where the developer and its principals are ofteb held liable forthe lenders’ “I don’t think the recognition of loss has occurred, or maybre it will never occur,” Scherer said. “If the properthy market comes back and the propertt is managed ina first-class manner, thers may not be a loss.” Accordinv to court documents, the partners in the $134.7 millio loan that will take control of CityPlace South Towedr are: Bank of Nova Scotia: $23.7n Cherish Thompson, the Miami-based attorney who represents Bank of Nova Scotiw in the complaint, didn’t immediately return a call seekin comment.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Danac gets good news from Montgomery County Planning Board - Washington Business Journal:

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The Bethesda-based developer's 26-acre officre park in the Shady Grove Life Scienceds Center is currently approvedfor 669,538 square feet of densityh and the campus currently contains half of that, or 350,000 squarde feet. At a May 28 work session, the Montgomerg County Planning Board decided to recommend in its draftf Gaithersburg West Master Plan that the property be developed with up to twiced asmuch density, or contain up to 1.34 millionh square feet of office, retail and residential The southwest corner of the land currently includes a 272,000-square-foot, three-building compledx that houses software and pharmaceutical tenants.
The northg side of the property contains the Metropolita RegionalInformational Services' 72,000-square-foot headquarters. Last the board also recommendedthat Danac's Corridord Cities Transitway stop be located at or near its northeasterbn corner, near the intersection of Diamondbaclk Drive and Decoverly Drive. That is good news for since the board had left out the stop inearlier drafts. The transitg stop near the corner may be developed whethe the state retains the current road alignmenty or adoptsthe county'sz locally preferred alternative.
The board also picked that locatiohn because the northeastern corner is consideredc to be convenient for pedestrians from the Decoverlyresidentiap communities. "We have a long way to go, but we are encouragedr by theplanning board's recommendations," said Timothyg Dugan, a Danac attorney. Several more work sessions are scheduler over the nexttwo months, and in July the planning boardc will send its draftr master plan to the countuy executive who will have 60 days to review and commen t before it is sent to the county council for

Friday, August 26, 2011

Six Flags files Chapter 11 bankruptcy - Dallas Business Journal:

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has initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, Six Flagse announced Saturday. Six Flags’ SIXF) board of directors on June 12 vote to begin reorganization proceedingsin U.S. Bankruptchy Court for the Districtof Delaware. The compangy listed assets of $3.03 billion and debts of $2.36 billionm in its filing. New York-based Six Flag is planning to reorganizethe company’s financial structure, which management said is feelin the pressure of an inherited $2.4 billiomn debt.
In a letter to employees, Six Flags CEO and president Mark Shapirp saidthe company’s debt is left over from previoues management and despite the companu making $275 million last it has been difficult for Six Flagz to improve its balance sheet when payingh out $175 million in interest on Shapiro asserted. He added that more than $400 milliob in debt is due within the next12 months, and the companyu is having to spend $100 milliom in park improvements in an atmosphere wherre refinancing is difficult.
Shapiro assured employee no staff reductions will arise out ofthe filing, and employeew will continue to be paid and receive Shapiro said the bankruptcy plan has the suppory of the company’s lenders and the agenr administering the company’s $1.1 billiob senior secured credit facility. Six Flags parks, includinvg Six Flags Great will continue to operate as usual under Six Flags sold several properties last year toraise capital. It still operates 20 amusement parks inNorth America.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Kansas City Business Journal: Tech & Innovation : Business Advice

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Seems like 2008 left lots of peopler crying. So what does that mean for 2009? Once in a even Chicken Littleis right. The sky did fall in 2008, but that doesn'ty make Chicken Little a great Everyone isright sometimes. Use Chicken Little as your 2009 mode atyour peril. Bambji time is over. Capitalism has been described as "creativre destruction." We saw lots of destructiojn last year. It's time to focus on the creativr part. How do you do that in this environment? change how you think. For you'll need a battle plan, not just a businesa plan.
There's not one battle plan that works for but here are some universal principles for formulatingv your personalbattle plan: 1. DON'T FIGHT THE LAST WAR We don'yt know the future, but we know this year will be differenrt thanlast year, even if some 2008 problemx persist during 2009. Don't expect that dustinv off your 2008 plan will bring successin 2009. Sun Tzu, in "Ther Art of War" advises: "What enableds … the good general to strike and conquer, and achievwe things beyond the reach ofordinargy men, is foreknowledge.
" Resources are scarce these days but spend some time and a littls money getting information about changeds in your market and analyzs how they affect your company. 2. MIGRATION - THE HEAD IS MOVINyG If you've ever been to the Serengeti, you know that dry weatherr causes millions of animals to movevast distances. Business is like too. When everyone is fat, dumb and happy in their establishexmarket niches, they tend to stay there. Big changees occur more out of desperation than In times like the business herdstarts moving. You're in trouble if it's heading in your direction. Maybe your marketg niche has fared better than average in the generapeconomic downturn.
That's great, but don't congratulate yourself yet. If you have a good you'll be facing new competitors Why? Maybe your niche was too smalkl when other companies had lots of Maybe they were focused on products or customerse withhigher margins. If their othee opportunities dried up, your little nichew is probably looking pretty good tothem now. Assuminh there are safe havensis foolish. 3. MISFORTUNE BRING S NEW OPPORTUNITIES Good times brinh more opportunities thantough times, but all economicv conditions create new opportunities. Winners spot new opportunities and seizee them quickerthan others.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Meet the hawks in the state Senate - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Sen. Chuck Purgason (Howell is a stereotypical rural legislator. He runs a huntinf farm, didn’t go to college and is very conservative. Durinbg his first term, Purgason was pretty much a wallflower. Althougb he was a consistent conservative he wasrelatively quiet. Votes are the least powerful weapobn ina senator’s arsenal, and his influence was very But this session Purgason He was elevated to chair of the committee on Government Accountability and Fiscal Oversight (GAFO).
Every piecre of legislation that would cost the government morethan $100,009 has to go through GAFO before it can With Purgason as chair, GAFO became a graveyard for big spendiny or government mandates he didn’t like. Bills would go in and nevert come out. Purgason with another hawk, Sen. Matt Bartle (Jackson to kill a version of the economicv development bill thatwas “clean,” that is, it didn’yt have any caps on variouss tax credit programs. Bartle has been railinvg against the proliferation of tax credit programws foryears now.
On the second-to-last night of Bartle played a critical role in killing the researcy and development taxcreditf (which would have benefited the CORTEX facility in St. When it was added to the economicdevelopment bill, he stood up and began talking aboug the , which had nothinvg to do with the bill and was an indicatioh that he was embarking on a filibuster. Seeinb the underlying bill in jeopardy, the Senate reconsidered the R& tax credit and stripped it out. In additioh to Purgason and Bartle, several other senatorx joined the fiscal conservatives from time to timeincludingv Sens. Jim Lembke (St. Louis) and Luannn Ridgeway (Clay County). Sen. Brad Lagerd was the leader of the hawks.
And he played “good during much of the negotiationz around thetax credit/jobs bill. The bad cops were Purgasobn and Bartle, neither of whom has statewid e ambitionslike Lager, who ran unsuccessfully for treasurer last cycle. Still some business interests following the legislationbclosely didn’t buy Lager’s attempt to cast himself as the one, fingering him as the one that first declareds that the EcoDevo bill shouldn’t pass without tax credit Like any group or coalition, they lookede more monolithic from the outside than from the They differed by degrees on economifc philosophy.
For example, Bartle woulds eliminate all tax credits and cut taxes across the board without discrimination to specific “favored” industries. But Lager’s positionb isn’t against tax credits completely but rather a desire to bring each program to come under periodic review to justifgits existence. That may have contributed to their lack of cohesio nthis year. They acted more like a dark cloucd that came and went without reason and less like the strategivc rebel insurgency they couldhave been. They held the floor for hours, stalling one of the billes with federalstabilization funds. It was not a real more of a raging against the hugegovernmenf spending.
But then they stepped aside with barelyh a peep when billions came througyh the next day in a bill containinv federalstimulus money. Later they killed the researc h and developmenttax credit, which ended up amounting to a relatively puny $5 million. This was theirr coming out year. The hawks will be back next better organized andmore strategic, and therefore more