Motion against Tower Homes postponed
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Bruce Markell postponed a motion Wednesday for summary judgment against Tower Homes, developer of Spanish View Towers in the southwest Las Vegas Valley.
The motion was filed June 27 on behalf of creditors HB Parkco Construction, Regional Steel Corp. and Nevada Ready Mix Corp.
The involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy will proceed as a regular bankruptcy case, an attorney for investors in the project said after Wednesday’s hearing.
Construction on the $660 million project was halted in July 2006 after some $35 million in mechanics’ liens were filed by general contractor Ledcor and its subcontractors against the 15-acre property near the Las Vegas Beltway and Buffalo Drive.
Attorneys for Gordon & Silver, representing the creditors, are asking the court to grant a summary judgment and enter an order for relief against Tower Homes.
“The petitioning creditors are entitled to such relief as a matter of law because the agreement gives the requisite unsecured claims necessary to file the involuntary petition,” the lawsuit alleges.
In its answer to the petition, Tower Homes did not deny its liability or the amounts of the petitioning creditors’ claims, nor that it was not generally paying its debts as they came due.
Tower Homes has not disputed that $15.7 million is owed to HB Parkco, $6.1 million to Regional Steel and $1.5 million to Nevada Ready Mix.
Las Vegas law firm Marquis & Aurbach filed a lawsuit in May to recover deposits for buyers at Spanish View Towers. Managing Partner Terry Coffing said Rod Yanke, principal of Tower Homes, took the Fifth Amendment during a deposition in which he was asked where the money went.
Yanke had claimed to have 90 sales, but they were actually nonbinding reservations. Coffing said only 20 reservations were converted to “hard contract,” or sales.
Larry Shiffman said the luxury condo project with its slickly produced advertisements looked like a good investment two years ago. Now he’s resigned that his $168,000 deposit is gone.
“It’s a nightmare. Unbelievable,” Shiffman said. “There’s a lot of fraud involved. They don’t expect there’ll be five cents left for us, but they hope to get insurance money.”
The first deed of trust on the property is held by One Cap Mortgage, a private investment company that financed $27.7 million for Tower Homes. With interest and other fees and costs, the total amount owed to One Cap is $36.7 million.
Heidi Williams, vice president of finance for One Cap, said HB Parkco had the land appraised at $42 million. With improvements, primarily the subterranean parking structure that required 40 feet of excavation, the appraisal came in at $89 million, she said. Yanke paid $8.5 million for the property.
Shiffman said he received an e-mail from Yanke a month ago promising he would never give up on building Spanish Towers.
“This guy is great. He can convince you of anything. He should sell used cars,” Shiffman said.
Spanish View Towers was planned for 444 units in three 18-story towers, priced from $800,000 to more than $6 million. The project once boasted the largest crane — 285 feet — ever erected in the southwest valley, which has since been dismantled.
