Developer Donovan Clarke has filed for chapter 11 protection for Clarke Real Estate Development LLC, which had been constructing up to 22 large homes at Parke Place in the 1300 block of Bainbridge Street and offering them for sale at more than $1 million each, complete with elevators, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported today. The bankruptcy follows mortgage foreclosure actions by Clarke's original financial partner, the Dietz & Watson Defined Benefit Pension Fund for workers at the Northeast Philadelphia lunchmeat company, that resulted in listing several of the Parke Place properties for sheriff's sale. Clarke said that he expects the pension fund "will ultimately be paid, and there will be new funding."
