Tarragon Files for Chapter 11

NEW YORK CITY-A federal judge has scheduled a first-day hearing for Wednesday in the Chapter 11 filing of Tarragon Corp. The locally based residential developer and multifamily investor and several subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

In its voluntary petition, filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Newark, Tarragon listed assets of $840 million and debts totaling $1 billion. According to a Q3 financial statement issued in November, the company had a net loss from continuing operations of $111.5 million on consolidated revenues of $275.8 million for the first nine months of 2008.

The bankruptcy filing follows a period of financial losses brought about by falling prices and slower sales in Tarragon’s homebuilding division, restrictions on the availability of financing and declining real estate values, according to a release. Tarragon’s goal is to implement a comprehensive reorganization, and the company will seek “additional outside financing and participation of a new investor or investor group,” the release states.