In re CPJFK, LLC

496 B.R. 290, 2011 WL 1257208, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5002
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
DocketNo. 10-50566-CEC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 496 B.R. 290 (In re CPJFK, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re CPJFK, LLC, 496 B.R. 290, 2011 WL 1257208, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5002 (N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

DECISION

CARLA E. CRAIG, Chief Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the Trustee’s motion to approve the sale of substantially all of the property of CP JFK, LLC (“CPJFK” or “Debtor”), to Neshgold, [294]*294LLP (“Neshgold”), a secured creditor holding an allowed claim secured by the assets which are the subject of the sale. The assets being sold consist primarily of an operating hotel known as the JFK Plaza Hotel (the “Hotel”), located at 151-20 Baisley Boulevard, Jamaica, New York, and the ground lease for the Hotel premises (collectively, the “Hotel Property”).

This motion is the last stage in a sales process that began in January, 2011. The only party in interest objecting to the sale is the Debtor, which was displaced from management of the Hotel Property when the Trustee was appointed on November 19, 2010; the other parties in interest that have appeared in this case, i.e., Neshgold; the lessor under the ground lease; and the Hotel Trades Council and Hotel Association of NYC Inc. Employee Benefit Funds, The New York Hotel & Motel Trade Council, AFL/CIO (the “Union and Fund Creditors”), favor the sale.

For the following reasons, the Debtor’s objections to the sale are overruled, and the Trustee’s motion to approve the sale is granted.

Jurisdiction

This Court has jurisdiction of this core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334(b) and 157(b)(N), and the Eastern District of New York standing order of reference dated August 28, 1986. This decision constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law to the extent required by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7052.

Factual and Procedural Background

This case was commenced by the filing of a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of Title 11, U.S.C. (the “Bankruptcy Code”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia on October 4, 2010. On November 10, 2010, the case was transferred to the Eastern District of New York, where the Hotel Property is located.

On November 12, 2010, Neshgold made a motion by order to show cause seeking the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee, based on allegations of pre-petition and post-petition mismanagement of the Hotel Property by the Debtor’s principals, including unauthorized use of Neshgold’s cash collateral to pay pre-petition and post-petition expenses of the Debtor, its principals, Sunil Mir and Charles Moráis, and non-debtors; failure to segregate hotel occupancy, sales and employment taxes; and failure to comply with orders of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia which required the Debtor to provide proof of payment of post-petition payroll taxes, and to file a notice containing disclosure of post-petition income and expenses. (ECF No. 58, 59.)1 After an evidentiary hearing held on November 19, 2010, an order was entered directing the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee pursuant to 1104 of the Bankruptcy Code.2

On November 24, 2010, an order was entered approving the appointment of Alan Nisselson (the “Trustee”) as chapter 11 trustee in this case. (ECF No. 77.) On December 3, 2010, the Debtor filed a motion to vacate the order appointing the Trustee under Rules 9023 and 9024 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and to remove the Trustee pursuant to Section 1105 of the Bankruptcy Code. (ECF No. 88.) The hearing on that motion has been repeatedly adjourned, at the [295]*295Debtor’s request or with the Debtor’s consent, and is currently scheduled for May 2, 2011. The Debtor has withdrawn the aspect of the motion that seeks to reconsider or vacate the order appointing the Trustee under Rules 9023 and 9024. (ECF No. 217.)

In early January, 2010, the Trustee filed motions pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, seeking authorization to use Neshgold’s cash collateral to operate the Hotel Property, and seeking approval of sale procedures and terms of sale for substantially all of the Debtor’s assets. (ECF Nos. 116, 119.) The Trustee explained in these motions that a prompt sale of the Hotel Property was necessary because no realistic possibility of reorganizing the Debtor existed; even after efforts to reduce expenses and increase revenue, the operations of the Hotel Property simply did not generate sufficient revenue to pay current administrative obligations, including debt service to Neshgold, rent due on the ground lease, payments due to the Union and Fund Creditors, and real estate taxes. In order to operate the Hotel Property, therefore, the Trustee needed Neshgold’s permission to use its cash collateral, because adequate protection could not be provided to Neshgold as required by § 363(c)(2)(B) and (e). (Tr.3 1/12/11 at 41.)

Following the hearing on those motions, on January 26, 2011, an order was issued approving the use of cash collateral through March 31, 2011, which included a timetable for marketing the Hotel Property and selling it by that date (the “Cash Collateral' Order”). (ECF No. 152.) The Cash Collateral Order also provided that the Trustee would have a period of 90 days from December 15, 2010 to assert any claim the estate may have against Nesh-gold, and that unless a claim is timely asserted, Neshgold would be released from any such claims. The Cash Collateral Order also provided that “no other claim shall be granted or allowed with priority superior to or pari passu with the priority of the claims of [Neshgold] granted by this Order in favor of [Neshgold] while any Lender Obligation [as defined in that order] remains outstanding.” (ECF No. 152 at 12,15.)

On January 26, 2010, this Court also issued an order approving sale procedures and terms of sale for the Debtor’s assets (ECF No. 153) (the “Sale Procedures Order”), which provided for the marketing of the Hotel Property by Optimum Hotel Brokerage (“Optimum”), a broker retained with Court approval by the Trustee for this purpose. (ECF Nos. 149). The Sale Procedures Order also provided for the solicitation of offers, the evaluation of these offers by the Trustee, and closing of the sale by March 31, 2011.

On February 16, 2011, the Trustee filed a motion for approval of a settlement with Neshgold pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9019 (the “Settlement Motion”). (ECF No. 173.) Under the proposed settlement, Neshgold agreed that $410,000 of the sales proceeds to which it would otherwise be entitled (as holder of a security interest in the assets being sold) would be used to pay administrative expenses, and that an additional $100,000 would be used to pay unsecured claims and United States Trustee fees. Neshgold also agreed that the Debt- or’s lease of the parking lot adjacent to the Hotel, previously held by the Debtor and currently held by an affiliate of Neshgold, would be made available to be reinstated for use with the Hotel so that it could be offered for sale with the Hotel Property. Neshgold further agreed that the amount of the secured claim that it would be al[296]

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496 B.R. 290, 2011 WL 1257208, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS 5002, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cpjfk-llc-nyeb-2011.