In Re Marion Street Partnership

108 B.R. 218, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 139, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2110, 1989 WL 147798
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedDecember 7, 1989
Docket19-40548
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 108 B.R. 218 (In Re Marion Street Partnership) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Marion Street Partnership, 108 B.R. 218, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 139, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2110, 1989 WL 147798 (Minn. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

NANCY C. DREHER, Bankruptcy Judge.

The above-entitled matter came on for final hearing before the undersigned on the 7th day of November, 1989 on a motion by TCF Bank Savings fsb (“TCF”) to convert or dismiss the case and for relief from the automatic stay, and on a motion by the debtor for use of cash collateral. Appearances were as follows: Richard Holper for TCF, and Christopher Elliott for debtor Marion Street Partnership (“Debtor”). This Court has jurisdiction to hear and finally determine this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157 and 1334, and Local Rule 103. This is a core proceeding.

FACTS

Debtor is a Minnesota general partnership whose sole asset is a 174 unit apartment building located at the corner of Lar-penteur Avenue and Marion Street in Rose-ville, Minnesota. There are two general partners, David P. Stewart and Byron C. Helgeson. Stewart is an experienced Twin Cities real estate developer. He is also a principal in Tycon Management, Inc. (“Ty-con”), which has from time to time managed the apartment building for the partnership. Helgeson is also an experienced real estate investor, and is involved in a different property management company. Stewart and Helgeson formed the partnership on July 1, 1986. Their intention was to syndicate limited partnership interests in the building for purposes of throwing off tax losses. Initially, there was no intention to operate the apartment building on a positive cash flow basis. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 interrupted this plan and made syndication impossible.

Debtor financed the purchase of the property using the proceeds of a loan from TCF in the sum of $4,000,000.00. That loan was evidenced by a Promissory Note dated July 18, 1986 (the “Note”), which was secured by a Mortgage, Security Agreement and Fixture Financing Statement (the “Mortgage”), which contained an assignment of rents. The Mortgage was duly filed, and the security interest of TCF became a first lien on the property. The Note bears interest at an annual rate of 10%. There is also a second mortgage on the property in the sum of approximately $700,000 held by Peerco I Limited Partnership (“Peerco”). On the date the petition was filed, the indebtedness to TCF was in the sum of approximately $4.1 million.

The apartment building is 25 years old. It is currently operating at a 95% occupancy rate. Since the partnership has owned it, the property has never generated sufficient cash flow to service the first and second mortgage indebtedness, after payment of operating expenses and real estate taxes. For the first several years of operations, debtor was required only to make interest, but not principal, payments to TCF. As of July 1988, however, debtor was required to begin making principal payments as' well. Debtor was unable to do so, and TCF agreed to defer this obligation. Debtor made all payments to TCF through August 1989 in a timely fashion, with the exception of one late payment of interest in February, 1989, which was promptly cured. In August, 1989, it missed its interest payment, and by the date the petition was filed, debtor was in arrears in interest payments in the sum of $121,000. It had also failed to escrow sufficient funds to pay the real estate taxes, which would come due on October 15,1989, and to escrow insurance payments. It had been behind in making payments to Peerco on the second mortgage for some time.

In September, 1989, Peerco notified debt- or that it intended to take legal steps to foreclose. At about the same time, TCF notified the debtor that it would have until September 30, 1989 to cure arrearages. Neither the first nor the second mortgagees had commenced foreclosure proceedings or taken steps to sequester the rents prior to the debtor’s filing for relief under *221 Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on September 26, 1989.

Debtor’s schedules reflect TCF’s and Peerco’s statuses as two of debtor’s three secured creditors, with total secured debt of approximately $5,000,000. There are few unsecured creditors, the total unsecured debt being less than $20,000. Debtor employs approximately 16 people as caretakers, managers and similar, some of whom receive rent credits in lieu of salary. The property is currently managed on a day to day basis by Tycon.

Financial statements and testimony presented at the hearing indicate that in the coming year, assuming current occupancy levels, the partnership will have net operating income of approximately $337,-000 after payment of operating expenses and current real estate taxes. Based on historical experience, these projections appear realistic. The projections also indicate that debtor will have sufficient cash flow to pay approximately $108,000 in necessary repairs and maintenance items in the coming year and to pay past-due real estate taxes on the property in the sum of approximately $84,000. Debtor will not, however, have sufficient cash flow to pay the annual debt service of approximately $400,000. Thus, at current occupancy levels, which are high, the property can sustain its operating expenses, real estate taxes, and repair and maintenance, but it cannot now produce sufficient revenue to pay the current debt, and probably never will be able to do so. As Stewart testified, with its current debt structure, the property will not work.-

As is typical, the estimates of value in this single asset case differ. The property has been appraised at various times, and there was valuation testimony presented at the hearing. In 1986, an independent appraisal prepared for TCF reflected a value on the property of approximately $4.7 million. Since that time, the partners put an additional $750,000 into the property. At trial, Stewart, who holds a master’s degree in real estate appraisal and who, as previously noted, is familiar with the Twin Cities real estate market, valued the property between $3.3 and $3.7 million. His estimate of value was based on the traditional, income-stream approach to valuation, coupled with a review of comparable sales in the area. He explained that, as a result of the Tax Reform Act, properties such as this one have suffered a decline in value because of their original tax driven nature. Most recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) appraised the property at approximately $4.3 million. TCF relies on the HUD appraisal for purposes of these motions.

While this is by no means an exact science, especially where neither party has obtained a current, independent appraisal in connection with the bankruptcy case, I believe that the value of the property is in the range of $3.7 million to $4.0 million. The debtor’s schedules listed the property at $3,785,000. This figure appears to be very much in range of the true current market value. There are ample reasons to ignore the early TCF appraisal, to accept debtor’s high-end figure, and to discount the HUD appraisal. First, Stewart’s testimony was eminently credible. Generally, a property owner’s ipse dixit on valuation is of dubious merit. Stewart, however, possesses credentials and experience uncommon to property owners appearing before this Court, and his valuation opinion was supported by analysis. His explanation of the current situation with respect to the property was reasonable and understandable.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Armenakis
406 B.R. 589 (S.D. New York, 2009)
In Re State Street Associates, L.P.
348 B.R. 627 (N.D. New York, 2006)
Wood v. La Bank (In Re Wood)
190 B.R. 788 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 1996)
In Re Dunes Hotel Associates
188 B.R. 162 (D. South Carolina, 1995)
In Re Elmira Litho, Inc.
174 B.R. 892 (S.D. New York, 1994)
In Re Kellogg Square Partnership
160 B.R. 343 (D. Minnesota, 1993)
Matter of Willows of Coventry, Ltd. Partnership
154 B.R. 959 (N.D. Indiana, 1993)
Matter of Newark Airport/Hotel Ltd. Partnership
156 B.R. 444 (D. New Jersey, 1993)
In re Ekamrudra, Inc.
144 B.R. 57 (E.D. Kentucky, 1992)
In Re Lumber Exchange Ltd. Partnership
125 B.R. 1000 (D. Minnesota, 1991)
In Re Campus Housing Developers, Inc.
124 B.R. 867 (N.D. Florida, 1991)
In Re Reddington/Sunarrow Ltd. Partnership
119 B.R. 809 (D. New Mexico, 1990)
In Re Forest Ridge, II, Ltd. Partnership
116 B.R. 937 (W.D. North Carolina, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 B.R. 218, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 139, 1989 Bankr. LEXIS 2110, 1989 WL 147798, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marion-street-partnership-mnb-1989.