PrintPrintCircuit Judge Roger M. Young, in an order signed Nov. 2, appointed the commercial real estate firm to manage and operate the 240 acres that three lenders foreclosed on in June. The company will operate the property and manage its finances during the foreclosure proceedings.
By Ashley Fletcher Frampton
aframpton@scbiznews.com
Published Nov. 5, 2009
A judge has appointed Anchor Commercial as receiver for the Navy Yard at Noisette property that is subject to foreclosure.
In an order signed Nov. 2, Circuit Judge Roger M. Young appointed the commercial real estate firm to manage the Noisette Co.’s 240 acres, the property on which three lenders filed for foreclosure in June.
The property is among 340 acres on the former Navy base in North Charleston where the Noisette Co. is planning a sustainable redevelopment project that includes businesses and homes.
Noisette officials did not return calls from the Business Journal seeking comment on the receiver appointment.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, in an e-mailed statement, said, “The move by the courts to appoint a receivership is not unexpected. There have been no changes in the city’s stance on this issue. We feel that the project will be successful no matter who the management team may be.”
Related document:
Previous coverage:
The lenders filed for foreclosure in June, saying their $23.8 million loan had been in default since the previous August. The lenders sought a court-appointed receiver and for the property to be sold.
At that time, Noisette CEO John Knott said he was working with private investors to come up with the money needed to avoid foreclosure. Knott has said that fundraising effort became more difficult when state officials began talking this summer about building a rail yard and intermodal center on the property to serve the port terminal under construction at the former naval base.
Knott said that plan would ruin his development plans as well as redevelopment efforts in the city’s older neighborhoods in the footprint surrounding the defunct base.
He said he was confident he would raise the needed money, however.
Bob Nuttall, principal and broker in charge of Anchor Commercial, issued a statement on the company’s appointment today and declined further comment.
“Our charge is to take whatever actions are necessary in the best interests of the property and to do those things which are prudent to maximize its value,” Nuttall said in the statement. “As receiver, we are accountable to the court.”
Capmark Finance Inc., the major lender for the Navy Yard at Noisette, selected Anchor Commercial to serve as a receiver “after an intensive evaluation of numerous major full-service commercial real estate firms qualified to serve in such a capacity,” Anchor’s statement said.
The court order said Anchor Commercial is experienced in the handling of financial matters in fiduciary capacities and has no interest that would interfere with those duties.
The order says the Noisette Co. must turn over to the receiver all leases, rents, contracts, keys to buildings, site plans, development agreements with the city of North Charleston and correspondence related to the Port of Charleston’s expansion plans, utilities and railroads, among other things.
The receiver will retain the Noisette Co. for four weeks to help with the management transition of the mortgaged property and to assist in the closing of existing or future contracts for land sales, the order says. The four-week period can be extended with the lender’s consent, it said.
Knott said previously that the Capmark loan, made in August 2006, was intended to be temporary financing. Knott has said he was finalizing a loan deal with a bank about a year ago but that the deal crumbled as the capital market imploded.
Reach Ashley Fletcher Frampton at 843-849-3129.
Print