Seaboard Realty LLC and certain of its affiliates said recently in a prepared statement they had filed petitions with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Seaboard and its affiliates own a portfolio of commercial real estate in Stamford, including office, residential and hotel properties.
All operations are expected to continue as normal through the bankruptcy process, the company reported.
The Chapter 11 filing includes Seaboard Realty LLC and a number of affiliates it manages, but does not include the property-owning subsidiaries themselves. Company management has yet to determine if or when Seaboard Realty affiliates that directly own Seaboard’s properties should also file for bankruptcy, according to the statement.
Seaboard Realty LLC is owned by John DiMenna, Thomas Kelly and William Merritt, but Kelly and Merritt came eventually to question DiMenna”™s business practices, according to the release, and sought counsel on their own.
In the last few days, according to a statement from the company, Kelly and Merritt concluded immediate additional steps were needed to protect the value of the enterprise for all stakeholders.
The release said DiMenna agreed to resign voluntarily, “terminating his authority to represent or act for Seaboard Realty or any of its affiliates.”
Marc Beilinson of Beilinson Advisory Group was retained as chief restructuring officer. Kelly and Merritt are also in the process of appointing an independent manager to join them on the board of Seaboard Realty and its subsidiaries.
The Advocate in Stamford reported Seaboard Realty and its affiliates are building an extended-stay Marriott hotel on Atlantic Street, and are planning to renovate the northernmost St. John”™s tower on Washington Boulevard to be market-rate apartments. They also own the Courtyard Marriott on Summer Street.
“The Seaboard properties are among the most sought-after collection of office, residential and hotel assets in Fairfield county, and the Courtyard is one of the top-performing Courtyards in the country,” Beilinson said. “I expect the properties to operate without interruption through this process, so that tenants and guests are not impacted. Our goal and expectation is that the properties can be restructured or sold in an orderly fashion that maximizes recoveries for all stakeholders, including lenders and investors.
“I will be contacting the lenders immediately and hope to be able to work collectively with them to maximize recoveries,” Beilinson said.
