Debt-holders of Edgemere, a financially troubled luxury retirement community in Dallas, have crafted a bankruptcy plan that includes selling it to a new owner, the Dallas Morning News reported. The unnamed bidder has offered $48.5 million to purchase the 1.55 million-square-foot facility built on land wedged between Preston Hollow and University Park. The debt-holders’ sale plan will compete with a recovery proposal from Edgemere and a committee of unsecured creditors, which includes families of former and current residents whose sizable deposits hang in the balance. Their proposal relies on a $20 million capital infusion from Edgemere’s parent company. The bankruptcy proceedings have been fiery from the start, with Edgemere suing its landlord, Intercity Investment Properties. Edgemere contends the landlord, working with a private-equity firm, set out to hurt the community’s reputation so it could terminate a 55-year ground lease that runs through 2054. In the most recent court hearings, both sides aired frustrations to Judge Michelle Larson. After Edgemere’s team revealed it wasn’t ready to file its plan Oct. 27, the original deadline, Edgemere was running out of time before its $10 million emergency loan floated by debt holders comes due Dec. 31. Judge Larson said that she is “extremely troubled” that Edgemere and its debt-holders haven’t had more discussions about extending the emergency loan. Edgemere said it’s sure the original emergency funding will last it through Jan. 20 as long as it doesn’t pay its professional fees to lawyers, bankers and financial advisers.
