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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA U.S. bankruptcy judge has scheduled an emergency hearing over Premier Properties USA Inc.’s refusal to turn over records
concerning its retail properties including Metropolis mall in Plainfield.
The April 28 hearing will address a request
by affiliates of Atlanta-based Dominion Capital Management LLC, one of Premier’s largest lenders. Dominion took control of
Metropolis and most of Premier’s other properties earlier this month.
The filing says Metropolis is “operating without
appropriate security or utility services” since Premier has not allowed the new property managers access to the mall’s offices
or its books. It also cites concerns at other Premier properties, including The Marquis in Virginia, Current in Florida and
The Foundry in Pennsylvania – a building under “severe structural distress.”
Premier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on April 23, narrowly avoiding the appointment of a receiver to take control of the troubled company.
Premier
and its founder, Christopher P. White, face numerous lawsuits alleging unpaid bills, defaulted loans and check fraud – trouble
that began to mount last year as credit-market turmoil put a stop to easy credit.
In a Chapter 11 filing, the firm
that developed Metropolis mall in Plainfield listed 20 creditors owed a total of more than $2.8 million. It did not include
millions of dollars in unpaid bills connected to specific properties – including Metropolis, Plainfield Commons and several
malls in other states – that the company no longer controls.
Premier has not provided a list of its own assets, although
the filing says the total will range between $1 million and $10 million.
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