The owner of the historic Ceresota senior apartment building in Minneapolis’ Mill District filed for bankruptcy last week, after defaulting on a bank agreement, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The Ceresota Funding II LLC filed for chapter 11 protection in court on July 1, stating it had both assets of between $10 million to $50 million and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million and up to 49 creditors. John Lamey III, the attorney filing the bankruptcy on behalf of Ceresota Funding II President Ross Dworsky, wrote in an e-mail that the bankruptcy reorganization “filing was to preserve that business on an ongoing basis. The filing was done to stave off a foreclosure by a mortgage holder. We filed the morning of the sheriff sale.” Late Tuesday, the facility’s tax credit investor, MinnWest Bank, filed a motion asking a federal court to dismiss the bankruptcy case. MinnWest Bank said that it notified the managing member of Ceresota on Jan. 20 that the Ceresota project was in “material default.” It also said that in March, it exercised its right to become the managing member of the project and that it never authorized any bankruptcy filing. A July 29 court hearing is scheduled.
