Lake Las Vegas Developer, Affiliates File Ch. 11

HENDERSON, NV-Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC, the master developer of the 3,600-acre Lake Las Vegas and its independent subsidiaries on Thursday filed for protection from creditors under Ch. 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Unable to find outside financing to pay its creditors, the filing will accord the developer time, free of threats of foreclosure and ongoing litigation with mechanics’ lienors, vendors, lenders and homebuilders to restructure the business plan for the master-planned residential development and resort community.

Lake at Las Vegas JV LLC lists liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion, assets of between $100 million and $500 million, and more than 1,000 creditors. LLV Holdco LLC, a subsidiary of Las Vegas-based Atalon Group owned by Frederick Chin, assumed ownership and management control of the master-planned community in early January 2008 after the former ownership group defaulted on approximately $540 million in loans in 2007. Chin cites a combination of poor liquidity, substantial debt service, extremely challenging real estate market conditions and other legal and financial issues, as the reason for the filing.

Concurrent with the filing, LLV JV LLC requested and has received commitments for up to $127 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing led by Credit Suisse as agent. Subject to Court approval, the new financing would be used in part to fund ongoing operations and assessments related to certain pre-petition obligations, including critical repairs to the Las Vegas Wash bypass conduit underlying the 320-acre man-made lake at the center of the community. Additionally, pending Court approval, the company said it would work to satisfy certain of its financial and infrastructure-related obligations.