After dodging a foreclosure auction and weeks of negotiations with would-be residents, the developer of a stalled Richmond, Va.-area condo project has entered chapter 11, Richmond BizSense reported today. Tiber Partners LLC, the embattled ownership group behind the delayed Tiber condos, was ordered to enter bankruptcy protection. The ruling comes less than two months after three couples who put down deposits to purchase condos at the stalled development sought to force Tiber Partners into chapter 7. With the consent of Tiber Partners, a trio of future residents asked the bankruptcy court to have the case converted to chapter 11 in a June 10 filing. Judge Kevin Huennekens granted the request. David Browne of Spiro & Browne is representing the condo owners and requested the court’s approval of a $6 million bank loan personally guaranteed by Willis Blackwood, one of the condo owners and the founder of Blackwood Development Co., to finance completion of the Tiber. The 15-unit condo development with units ranging from $575,000 to $1.2 million remains unfinished with the delays coming to a head when John K. George & Co. and Tiber’s developers argued in court over completion of the project.
