A Center City developer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection as residents in some of his high-end townhomes still seek answers on
incomplete work.
Donovan Clarke filed for the protection for his firm,
Clarke Real Estate Development LLC, according to documents filed with the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The developer began construction on 22 luxury townhomes
along the 1300 block of Bainbridge Street – which began selling in 2013 for
upwards of $1 million.
Two years later, the project remains incomplete and
sources say owners of the residences have reported issues with the four-story
properties they already occupy.
Clarke, who has built several other projects in the
Hawthorne section of Center City – once home to the Martin Luther King Jr.
Plaza public-housing high-rises, predicted he'd see success with the
high-priced homes because other nearby developments were being marketed in the
same range.
Property records also show Clarke had previously modified
terms of his mortgage agreement with his lender, the Dietz & Watson Inc.
Union Employees Pension Plan and Dietz & Watson Benefit Pension Fund, last
year.
But he was unable to meet the new conditions as public
records show the lender moved forward with the foreclosure process and has
listed 21 of the development firm's properties for sheriff's sale – including a
Clarion Street site where Clarke planned to construct a mixed-use property.
The developer and the attorney representing him in the
bankruptcy case did not immediately respond to requests from the Philadelphia
Business Journal for comment.
Clarke told The Inquirer that he is working to secure
financing for the remaining 14 units: "This is a reorganization. It's
still a project we are 100 percent commited to at this point. We are just
restructuring to get the project back on track."
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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