Harbor Plaza Assoc. v. Harbor Vista A., No. Cv95 0142917 S (Aug. 11, 1995)

1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 9141
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedAugust 11, 1995
DocketNos. CV95 0142917 S, CV94 0140347 S, CV95 0143188 S, CV95 0143141 S
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 9141 (Harbor Plaza Assoc. v. Harbor Vista A., No. Cv95 0142917 S (Aug. 11, 1995)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harbor Plaza Assoc. v. Harbor Vista A., No. Cv95 0142917 S (Aug. 11, 1995), 1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 9141 (Colo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This case is unpublished as indicated by the issuing court.]MEMORANDUM OF DECISION In these four cases, tried to the court, the facts are interwoven and were presented in the one hearing in the consolidation of all four matters. For clarity, the court will discuss and render its decision in each case separately. The four cases are: Harbor Plaza Associates v. Harbor Vista AssociatesLimited Partnership. (The Foreclosure) Harbor Vista AssociatesLimited Partnership v. Harbor Plaza Associates (The Declaratory Judgment) Harbor Vista Associates Limited Partnership v. YankeeManagement, Inc., Arthur D. Emil and Arthur Collins, (The Guaranty of Reserves) and Harbor Vista Associates LimitedPartnership v. Yankee Management, Inc., (The Entry and Detainer)

I.
THE FORECLOSURE

This action, Harbor Plaza Associates v. Harbor Vista Associates Limited Partnership (CV95 0142917S), is the case upon which both parties focused most attention at trial, and apparently is the proceeding which precipitated all the others. The debt secured by the mortgage sought to be foreclosed is claimed to be in excess of $206,000,000. The issue for the court is whether the mortgage is, in fact, in default. To decide that question, the court must among other things, interpret the meaning as used in the mortgage of ten words, ". . . aggregate debt service required to be paid under the Notes. . .". To steal a phrase, never have so few words meant so much to so many.

For a full understanding of the question, we must take a close look at the parties and at the transaction giving rise to the mortgage. It involves perhaps one of the most complex and sophisticated financing of a loan ever devised. From testimony and exhibits, the court finds the following facts essential to CT Page 9142 this case.

In the late 1970's the plaintiff, Harbor Plaza Associates ("Harbor Plaza") had constructed a new facility on waterfront property in Stamford consisting of five commercial buildings, primarily for office use, with some retail and restaurant use. To construct the buildings, consisting of some 725,000 square feet, the plaintiff had received a $90,000,000 construction mortgage from Aetna Insurance Co.

When it came time to pay the construction mortgage, the plaintiffs could not obtain a conventional loan in the amount needed, and had to settle for a $60,000,000 permanent mortgage granted by Aetna. Since $30,000,000 more was needed, the plaintiffs approached Integrated Resources, Inc. ("Integrated"), a syndicator of real estate and tax shelters, for the purpose of obtaining the additional sums. Several months of negotiations followed, with Arthur Emil, as a general partner of Harbor Plaza, and one Daniel A. Davis acting for Integrated. Both sides were represented by qualified counsel throughout the transaction. It was important to Integrated, in its offering to investors, that the transaction be so structured that the mortgage interest payable be as close to fully deductible as possible; indeed, it seemed important to set up the transaction as a bona fide equity acquisition, with sufficient probability of a true economic benefit accruing to the investors in order to pass Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") muster. To accomplish these goals, Integrated formed a limited partnership known as Harbor Vista Limited Partnership ("Harbor Vista"), the defendant in this case. The parties then proceeded to close the transaction on July 20, 1982 by Harbor Plaza conveying title to the five buildings, but not the land, to Harbor Vista, for which Harbor Vista paid Harbor Plaza $135,000,000. Of that sum, $30,000,000 was paid in cash (which covered the shortfall on the Aetna construction mortgage), and $105,000,000 by Harbor Vista executing two promissory notes in the amount of $100,000,000 and $5,000,000, both secured by a $105,000,000 purchase mortgage on the buildings in favor of Harbor Plaza. The Notes mature on August 10, 2022, and the mortgage is junior to and "wraps around" the Aetna first mortgage, meaning the mortgagee (Harbor Plaza) is obligated to make the payments on that indebtedness. In addition to conveying the buildings to Harbor Vista, Harbor Plaza also granted to Harbor Vista a 90 year ground lease of the land upon which the buildings are situated. CT Page 9143

The Notes and mortgage were so structured that the mortgagor (Harbor Vista) could defer actual interest payments called for by the Notes, and yet take the interest as current deductions for the benefit of the investors. However, to remain true to the indicia of bona fide ownership, it was necessary to put some limitations on the amounts of accrued interest and the length of time during which it could be accrued.

Simply stated then, the parties provided for Harbor Vista to pay Harbor Plaza all cash flow generated by the facility (to be augmented during the first five years of the loan by the payment of an additional $1,395,000 representing Debt Service Shortfall). As long as Harbor Vista continued to do so, it would not be in default of the mortgage, and no foreclosure could be brought by Harbor Plaza unless, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 16(a)(ii) of the mortgage, Harbor Vista became "in arrears in the payment of all sums owing under the Notes by more than an amount equal to the aggregate debt service required to be paid under theNotes for the immediately preceding seven year (7)-period." (Emphasis added).

The Notes require payments, during the period relevant to this case, of interest only at the rate of 18.4% per annum. The mortgage permits payments of a lesser amount, but equal to all cash flow during the same period. It is virtually undisputed that Harbor Vista carries an arrearage of some $100,000,000 as of December 31, 1994, that interest on the $105,000,000 principal of the Notes for seven years at the rate of 18.4% is $135,240,000, and that the last seven years of cash flow is approximately $82,250,000. One sees, then, that if the arrearage is compared to the 18.4% interest rate, it is less than $135,240,000 and the mortgage is not in default; but if compared with the cash flow of the project, $82,250,000 for the same period, the arrearage is substantially greater and the mortgage is in default.

The plaintiff's interpretation of paragraph 16(a)(ii) that the clause is referring to cash flow for the preceding seven years was presented to the court skillfully, creatively and enticingly. However, the court is persuaded by the defendant's argument that 16(a)(ii) is referring to the 18.4% per annum (coupon rate) of the Notes. The court is drawn to that conclusion by the very words of the clause, by the testimony it heard, and by the clear intent of the parties.

A written instrument should be construed and enforced in CT Page 9144 accordance with the intent of the parties as expressed in the language of the contract. Schatz v. Hartford Fire Insurance Co.,213 Conn. 696, 702, 569 A.2d 1131 (1990). Paragraph 16(a)(ii) of the mortgage forbids the mortgagee from declaring a default so long as "The mortgagor is at no time in arrears in the payment of all sums owing under the Notes by more than an amount equal to the aggregate debt service required to be paid under the Notes for the immediately preceding seven (7)-year period)."

The defendant, Harbor Vista, asks the court to accept these words at face value, and the court does so for a number of reasons.

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Bluebook (online)
1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 9141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harbor-plaza-assoc-v-harbor-vista-a-no-cv95-0142917-s-aug-11-1995-connsuperct-1995.