What’s next?
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing is scheduled for today at 11 a.m. at 31 E. 11th St.
A North Carolina development company is offering nearly $6 million for 6.6 acres of Chattanooga businessman Allen Casey’s former riverfront property.
At roughly $898,000 an acre, that price makes it among the most expensive parcels ever bought in Chattanooga if the deal goes through, according to one real estate expert.
“As hot real estate goes, that’s among the hottest,” said Savage Glascock, a real estate analyst for Henry B. Glascock Co. in Chattanooga.
Today, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing is scheduled on the potential future sale of the Manufacturers Road parcel to CW Development Co. LLC near Charlotte, N.C., according to court papers.
The development company has ties to CW Construction, which is building the seven-story, 691-bed Douglas Heights apartment building slated to open next month off M.L. King Boulevard near the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
CW Construction also is related to CampusWorks, which is a national developer and builder of student housing apartment communities. CampusWorks has a joint venture ownership interest in 5,835 beds in 10 markets, according to its website.
A CW Development official did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Jerrold Farinash, the trustee in Casey’s bankruptcy case, said earlier this year that companies interested in the riverfront property are looking at a mix of residential and commercial projects on the vacant tract.
The site is adjacent to where Casey’s controversial rundown barge was moored before it was towed away last summer.
In the court filing, Farinash said he has entered into a sale agreement with CW Development to buy the 6.6 acres for $5.92 million, which he believes “to be in the range of the fair market value of the property.”
Farinash requested that the court order the sale free and clear of liens and encumbrances.
But he also asked the court to set up procedures for soliciting and considering competing bids and treat the CW Development as the “stalking horse bidder.” A stalking horse bid is an attempt to test the market for a debtor’s assets in advance of an auction of the property.
Farinash asked that competing bids be received no later than Aug. 12. If no qualified competing bid is made, he’s seeking another hearing on or near Aug. 17 for the court to approve the sale.
The Casey property is part of an 11-acre tract that sits in a key spot across from the Tennessee Aquarium, the city’s so-called “front porch.” The other part is owned by Chattanooga businessman Jackson Wingfield.
Farinash has said he sees the highest future value of the site by combining those tracts with an adjacent industrial site containing propane storage tanks and a steel processing center. The entire tract could extend from the One North Shore condominiums to the Olgiati Bridge.
Last summer’s removal of Casey’s barge, long a point of criticism for its derelict state, was seen as making the land easier to sell.
Casey, who developed the Chattanooga Choo Choo more than four decades ago into a top Tennessee attraction, announced plans a decade ago to build condominiums and a hotel on the waterfront land, but nothing was built.
In 2009, he brought the barge to the city to put in a floating restaurant and bar, but that project fizzled and the vessel deteriorated over the years.
He and one of his companies filed for bankruptcy a couple of years ago as he faced a civil trial related to a lawsuit brought by former investors.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.