US: Woodinville Wine Village Emerges

The way is now clear for a new owner to assume title to a troubled development site slated for a wine village in the heart of Woodinville, Wash. King County Superior Court dismissed claims by the town of Woodinville against Woodinville Village Partners LLC, the entity that acquired the note (formerly held by Union Bank) for the property owned by Woodinville Village Associates LLC. The city had claimed that its interests in the property—approximately $1.4 million for road work—ranked higher in priority to those of the Union Bank. A summary judgment May 31 decided, based on case law, that it wasn’t so. “The city’s priority of lien was not in priority to our lien, the first deed of trust lien, so they granted us relief from the city’s lawsuit,” Walter Scott, a vice president of development and a minority partner in Woodinville Village Partners, explained to Wines & Vines. We “hope this resolves the legal issues with regards to the property.” A decision regarding the municipality’s claims means Woodinville Village Partners is now free to pursue a foreclosure action on the property to satisfy obligations owing to it under a note acquired from Union Bank in March. Based in Bellevue, Woodinville Village Partners is backed by local real estate expertise associated with Legacy Corp., an established real estate investor that owns a string of commercial properties including dozens of thrift stores and discount outlets across the U.S. and Canada. Union Bank acquired the debt as part of its takeover of the original lender, Frontier Bank, in 2010. The note represents amounts outstanding when Frontier Bank called loans to the project’s original developer as real estate financing around the world unraveled in the wake of Lehman Bros. fall 2008 collapse. The development in Woodinville sank under $24 million in loans, interest, taxes and assorted charges; creditors included the bank, Woodinville and others.

Read more at: http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=117444
Copyright © Wines & Vines