Investors that financed construction of a big west suburban retirement community face huge losses as the project's developer tries to recapitalize in bankruptcy court, Crains Chicago Business reported yesterday. GreenFields of Geneva, a 247-unit development that opened in 2012, is nearly fully occupied, but its owner filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and hopes to hold on to the property. The owner, an affiliate of Schaumburg, Ill.-based nonprofit Friendship Senior Options, blamed the development's financial woes on "unforeseen construction shortcomings" that delayed regulatory approvals and occupancy. Friendship Village of Mill Creek, which does business as GreenFields of Geneva, listed liabilities of $113 million and assets of $56.9 million in the April 20 filing. Friendship Senior Options proposes to pay $52.8 million for the property, inject $5 million of new equity and assume "substantially all" vendor contracts, according to a bankruptcy motion seeking a sale order.
