Some under contract for condos prepare to sue

At least 13 people who are under contract to buy luxury units next to the Hilton in downtown New Bern have come together to pursue legal action now that the corporation responsible for SkySail Condominiums has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, New Bern Riverfront Development LLC, the company behind the condo project, is asking a U.S. bankruptcy court to allow those pending contracts to move forward. The managers of that limited-liability corporation are developers Dicky Walia and Sanjay Mundra, who are the leaders behind the Cary-based Soleil Group.

 A motion filed with the bankruptcy court says the assumption of contracts would “promote the opportunity for a successful reorganization” of New Bern Riverfront Development, while “failure to timely close the pending transactions will result in irreparable loss, cost and damage to the debtor’s estates and the creditors in these proceedings.”

In its bankruptcy filing from Nov. 30, the corporation reported $31.5 million in assets and $25.6 million in liabilities. Among its major creditors is Wachovia Bank, which is owed about $21 million. The city of New Bern and Craven County are also creditors.

New Bern attorney Ernie Richardson III said this week that at least 13 people have sought to retain his firm to try to void their contracts to buy one of the luxury units. He said he would likely attempt to extend the deadline that those contract signers have to file a claim against New Bern Riverfront Development LLC.

“It appears the debtor is trying to use all the money to pay for the bankruptcy,” he said.

Attempts to reach Rod O’Donoghue, the lawyer for both New Bern Riverfront Development and the Soleil Group, and to reach Walia, were unsuccessful as of Wednesday night.

But when the corporation filed bankruptcy, O’Donoghue indicated that one of the reasons for that was to “allow the sale of completed units without undue delay.”

SkySail has 121 units, and of those, 42 have been sold and another 56 are under contract, according to court documents.

“This is not an action that was taken lightly or hastily, but after careful consideration of all options,” O’Donoghue said in a prepared statement issued earlier this month after the bankruptcy filing. “New Bern Riverfront believes there is substantial equity in SkySail and that SkySail is a valuable and viable project.”

O’Donoghue has said that a troubled economy, changes in financing for buyers, and a dispute–turned-lawsuit involving the project’s general contractor have all “hampered” condo sales on Middle Street.

The Soleil Group has said its investments in downtown New Bern amount to more than $60 million, including the renovated Sheraton-turned-Hilton hotel, the revamped New Bern Grand Marina and the luxury condominiums.

The bankruptcy does not affect the hotel or the marina.

Nikie Mayo can be reached at 252-635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.