Fontainebleau's Soffer caught by Lehman Bros. bankruptcy - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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“When the retail division of the project lost access to fundingbthrough Lehman, it was unable to repay the resort for its shares of costs,” said Scott Baena, of Bilzinh Sumberg Baena Price Axelrod, who represents Fontainebleau Las Vegaws LLC in the bankruptcy. “Thatf put enormous stress on theresort entity, and that was the beginninhg of the problems.” Fontainebleai Las Vegas LLC and two of its affiliatesd filed bankruptcy petitions in Miami late The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is not includex in the filing.
Soffer, also principal with Turnberru construction anddevelopment companies, has personal guarantees on portiona of the retail component of the Las Vegas project, but thosr portions are not in bankruptcy yet, Baena The complex is 70 percent Since December 2008, Lehman refusesd to make any advances under the project’s $315 million constructionn loan, according to a motion to maintaim cash management filed in the bankruptcy. Aftedr Lehman’s refusals, money stopped flowing through the retail entityt to theresort entity. In March, other lenders pulled theirf financing, and construction on the resorf stoppedin May, Baena said.
The company said in a news releass that the decision to file Chaptert 11 was the resulty of litigation with the other lenders on project aboutnearly $800 million in construction fundingf for the project. Other lenderse include , JPMorgan Chase Bank and Deutsche BankTrustr Co. Americas. In the short term, the company is seeking to stabilize and protect the finisher portion ofthe building, Baena said. “It’s no longer possible to downsizethe building,” he “The 30 percent remaining construction is principally the We’ve got a lovely building waiting to be finished.
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