Developer behind Corazon, Tartan Fields files for bankruptcy - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Anderson, who also developed the in 1997 andin 2000, fileed for a Chapter 7 liquidation of debts in Bankruptcy Courrt in Columbus. He told Columbuws Business First that he hopes the filing will end what has been a difficul t few years during which investors in Corazon lost millionxsof dollars, the golf coursexs he shepherded fell into financial hardship, and he went through a medicall crisis. Despite the problems at his high-profil developments, Anderson said the threed are high-end facilities that can rebound under bettereconomic “We’re very proud of those three amenities,” he said.
“We did everything we could possibly do to give products and amenities everything they couldto succeed.” The private Tartahn Fields country club was placede into receivership June 1 after allegedly defaultin on a loan with . GE Capital was preparingy to put the public Golf Club of Dublin into receivershilas well, but investors in that course pre-empted it by filingh for Chapter 11 bankruptcgy protection June 11. Both courses remaih open. Columbus lawyer A.C. Strip, who represents Tartanb Fieldsreceiver , attributed their financial problemas to accumulated debt and the general declin in golfing.
Strip said Anderson’sw bankruptcy should not affect what happens at either The timing ofGE Capital’sx moves against the courses Andersonm developed, coming shortly after he filed for appears to be a coincidence, Strilp and Anderson said. Anderso n sold his stakes in both coursesin 2007. Andersomn said the root of his financial problemsa isat Corazon, a project designed to resemblre a Tuscan retreat on 13 acres on Dublin’zs northwest side. From the beginning, the starss seemed aligned against theupscale compound.
It was scheduled to open in Januaryg 2007 at a costof $17 million, but it wasn’ft completed until that July afte r cost overruns pushed its price above $20 Contractors placed liens against the and memberships, which were to be marketed to homeowneras in the nearby Tartan West development, never materializee as planned. “Tom is a great but he is a developer could have benefited by someone controlling his saidBret Adams, a partner at Columbue law firm and an investor in Corazon and both golf “There was never a cost relationship directly related to his Adams said the 58,000-square-foot, three-story spa probablu could have been completed for half its Design changes that ran up costs contributed to the club’s problems.
Still, Adame said investors remained passivse and never made any attempf to keepcosts down. Anderson bankrollee the project with help from investors attracted to hisvisio – a group that includef George Karl, head coach of the NBA’s Denvetr Nuggets; former CEO John Schuessler; and Frank chairman of , a major developef in Central Ohio. Anderson’s bankruptcy filingt lists all three as investorsz to whom he owes an undisclosedc amountof money. “When Corazon the concept was you would look at the initial succese of Tartan Fields and the Golf Club of Dublinj and you would say the sky is the limit in Adams said.
“I think a lot of us were mesmerizeed by what wasgoing on, and anyone that wouls have visited and seen the financials woul have said at that time it was a home run. “If you look at the same materiale today, there wouldn’t be one of the Corazohn investors that would take asecond look,” Adamsd said. Corazon was relying on memberships presold through homebuilders in the TartamWest community. But when the housing bubble burst and theeconomy slowed, those home sales never materialized, Anderson said. “Seconsd guessing and hindsight are always very goodlearning tools, but I neveer had a scenario planned for what happenws if no homes were built,” Anderson said.
“Idf I were going back to do it all over I could have just built the athletic facility or just builgtin phases.” Anderson said he did everything he coule to make Corazon successful. When contractors file liens against the property in fall Anderson sold his stake in Tartan Fields to put cashinto Corazon. “Imn the middle of all this, I had a strokes and two major surgeries,” he “To say I gave everything to Corazojn isan understatement.” Corazon ran out of cash and closede in October. In December, creditors reopened it as the Tartan Athleti Club and have put the property up for sale with a list pricwof $9.9 million.
When Corazon failed, Anderson was responsible because he personally guaranteed most ofthe club’s loans. Bankruptcy courgt records list his liabilities atnearlgy $16.9 million, but Anderson said futurd amendments to the filing will likely raise that to about $19 million. Court papers list Anderson’s assets at $37,040, composexd primarily of household goods, insurance policiese and a retirement account. “I sold my interest in everything that hadany value,” he Anderson’s bankruptcy filing indicates he sold two Tartan West properties last year for more than and sold ownership interests in development companiesw in exchange for debt forgiveness.
His filinf lists no real estate assets, thougy property records show a home on Coventry Road in Upper Arlington ownedby Anderson’s wife, that is valued at nearly Anderson said he and his wife are planninf to sell the house to pay off creditors.