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Real estate and co-working startup Knotel has secured court approval of a deal with its prospective buyer and junior creditors that it hopes will pave its way out of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. During a remote hearing yesterday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath, Delaware signed off on the settlement that provides unsecured creditors up to $6.2 million if Digiatech LLC, Knotel’s lender and likely buyer, is the winning bidder at an auction scheduled for Friday. The deal firms up key support from junior creditors for Knotel’s goal of conducting a quick sale process before its financing runs out.

An independent bankruptcy trustee is taking charge of an unfinished hotel in Coachella, Calif., and will be empowered to probe lender allegations that developers bungled the project envisioned as a luxury destination for attendees of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Sheri Bluebond of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday granted a request by the lender, an investment fund managed by Calmwater Asset Management LLC, to appoint a chapter 11 trustee over project developer Glenroy Coachella LLC, which filed for bankruptcy last month to avoid a foreclosure sale. The ruling comes after the Calmwater fund and another early investor in the project accused real-estate investor Stuart Rubin, the manager and majority owner of Glenroy Coachella, of mismanaging the project and improprieties such as using a false budget that underreported project costs to get a $24.4 million construction loan. Mr. Rubin in court papers filed last week denied the allegations of wrongdoing, including the claim that he used an alternative budget to mislead the lender. Mr. Rubin said he has spent thousands of hours on the hotel project without collecting a development fee or other remuneration. Judge Bluebond said that there are valid concerns over how the hotel project has been handled, including claims that developers have withheld information and records from investors and a court-appointed receiver, which has been overseeing the project since 2019.

The Canadian Football League and the XFL are exploring a potential partnership as they seek to return to play in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Today reported. The leagues announced yesterday that they "have agreed to work together to identify opportunities for the leagues to collaborate, innovate, and grow the game of football," though they did not offer specifics about what such a patnership would entail. The XFL also said it is putting its plans for the 2022 season on hold as discussions continue. The CFL canceled its 2020 season but is hoping to return to play June 10. The CFL has long been considered one of the top professional football leagues outside of the NFL, regularly attracting top undrafted players from the United States or serving as a launching pad for those hoping to reach the NFL. The XFL also experienced moderate success in 2020 — its first season since relaunching — before shutting down in the wake of COVID-19. Since the cancellation of its season, the XFL has since filed for chapter 11 protection and been purchased for $15 million by a group of investors that includes Garcia, actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and RedBird Capital Partners.

Eagle Hospitality Trust, which oversees several corporations that operate the Queen Mary and own hotels in Pasadena, Anaheim and Palm Desert, filed a motion in federal court yesterday to auction off several of its properties, including its lease for the legendary ship that makes its home in Long Beach, Calif., the Long Beach Press Telegram reported. The filing came as part of the chapter 11 bankruptcy process, which kicked off in January when several affiliates of Eagle Hospitality Trust — including the corporations that run hotels across the Southland — notified the Delaware district of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of their intent to restructure. The bankruptcy court is scheduled to weigh in on the motion, and possibly approve it, on Tuesday, March 23. The proposal from Eagle Hospitality Trust noted that the New York capital investment fund Monarch Alternative Capital has bid a total $470 million for the corporations that own or manage the Embassy Suites by Hilton Anaheim North, the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Anaheim, the Sheraton Pasadena and the Queen Mary, as well as 11 other hotels across the state and country. If the motion is approved by the court, those companies would tentatively be listed for auction on May 20, with Monarch Alternative Capital’s bid being the minimum offer.

New York City is creating a $65 million fund to help taxi medallion owners, but drivers called the plan “a disgraceful betrayal from a city that already has blood on its hands,” Bloomberg News reported. The proposal, funded with federal stimulus money, will offer $20,000 loans to help restructure debts on taxi medallions, and as much as $9,000 in debt payment support, said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk. “I think this new plan will be a difference maker for many drivers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday. But Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the 21,000-member Taxi Workers Alliance, said the plan is “horrible” and “does absolutely nothing for us.” “It’s a cash bailout for lenders while we are left to drown in debt, foreclosure & bankruptcy,” Desai said in a Twitter post. In response, the mayor said, “It’s very easy to call for plans that aren’t going to work. Our job is to come up with solutions that will actually work.” The market for taxi operating permits known as medallions has collapsed with the onset of the digital ride-hailing industry, leaving thousands of drivers facing financial ruin. Several have committed suicide. The Alliance has called on the city to help convince and incentivize lenders to restructure their debt.

The 805-room San Jose Fairmont Hotel, Silicon Valley’s largest hotel, has filed for bankruptcy and plans to restructure with a new brand and new management to reopen within 60 to 90 days, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The temporary closure of the two-tower landmark hotel — which owner FMT SJ LLC said lost at least $18 million in 2020 and is projected to lose at least an additional $20 million this year — underscores the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic on the hotel and tourism industries. The hotel closed Friday and relocated fewer than 50 guests to other hotels in San Jose and paid for their lodging, hotel spokesman Sam Singer said. All hospitality staff were laid off on Friday, including union members and hotel management, said Singer, who didn’t have the number of layoffs. They were paid through Friday. On Saturday, the only people at the hotel were security guards and engineers, Singer said.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. head Adam Aron saw his compensation more than double to $20.9 million in 2020, even as COVID-19 decimated the movie-theater business, Bloomberg News reported. His pay mostly took the form of almost $15 million in stock awards, along with $5 million from two separate bonus payments and $1.11 million in base salary, the company said in a filing Friday. Aron received a total of $9.67 million for 2019. The company made the compensation decisions to “recognize the extraordinary actions taken by the management team during the COVID-19 pandemic to secure the company’s survival.” AMC, the largest theater chain, warned several times throughout 2020 it was near the brink of insolvency, eventually securing a rescue package at the start of 2021 to help stave off bankruptcy for most of the year. The Leawood, Kansas-based company also furloughed thousands of staff members, including its entire senior leadership team. The shares sank 71% in 2020. AMC’s outlook has improved in 2021, with sliding coronavirus case numbers allowing New York City to reopen its movies theaters this weekend. Shares in the company also surged after Reddit-using traders targeted the company. The stock is up 280% so far this year, closing at $8.05 on Friday in New York.

A group of unsecured lenders to Hertz Global Holdings Inc. are proposing an alternative reorganization of the rental car company that would take it public, a move that counters a plan to sell the company to two investment funds for as much as $4.2 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The lenders want to convert their holdings in the bankrupt company into shares of the reorganized company, which could be traded publicly. If Hertz’s board were to accept that plan, it would supersede a bid from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to buy the company. The group believes the Knighthead bid, which values Hertz at $4.85 billion, is too low. Its members think Hertz has an enterprise value of $5 billion and would fetch more under their plan. The lenders have not submitted a formal proposal to Hertz and terms are still in flux. In one scenario being discussed, Hertz’s shares would become public upon emergence from bankruptcy. Members of the creditor group include Alliance Bernstein, Bank of America, Invesco, Fir Tree Partners, and JPMorgan Asset Management, according to court filings. Hertz’s board is in the early stages of evaluating proposals and will take the best bid. The company started negotiating with creditors and potential buyers in November, according to court documents. After talking with three bidders, Hertz settled on Knighthead and Certares, who jointly have a travel-focused investment fund.

The Down Town Association, the oldest social club in lower Manhattan and a former haven for New York and national power brokers, has filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1859, has less than $75,000 in cash and property to cover $6.9 million in debt, most of which is owed to landlord Great Empire Realty, according to its bankruptcy petition filed Thursday in New York. It’s seeking to reorganize under chapter 11 protection using rules usually reserved for small businesses. Set in the shadow of the city’s financial district, the club’s location at 60 Pine Street dates from 1887 and is on a list of historic New York landmarks. In 2018, investor Benny Fong’s Great Empire paid $28.3 million for the building with plans to lease the property back to the club, according to New York trade publication <em>The Real Deal</em>. To attract members in recent years, the club resorted to offering discounts on nearby parking and shopping, including 15% off at Brooks Brothers, the mens clothier that also was forced into bankruptcy after a history of serving Wall Street titans. Among the assets listed in court papers were two billiard tables, 18 portraits of presidents and treasurers and an elk’s head.

U.S. travel demand remains low even as tens of millions of Americans get vaccinated for COVID-19, with just 12% planning a spring break trip this year, the industry said yesterday, Reuters reported. The industry has been devastated over the past year by the collapse in travel demand because of the pandemic. The U.S. Travel Association said polling that it commissioned suggested Americans remained wary about travel and that it was “far from clear when demand for travel will rebound on its own.” The industry again urged new tax credits to encourage leisure and business travel. “We really can’t recover until we get this pandemic under control,” said U.S. Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow, who added that corporate travel departments were still advising employees not to travel.