CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-based developer Crescent Resources has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to reduce the firm’s debt level and boost its capital structure. The filing applies to Crescent and certain affiliated legal entities, but not its entire portfolio of commercial real estate assets. A group of existing lenders has come forth with $110 million in debtor-in-possession financing aimed at helping Crescent remain in full operation during its restructuring.
Andrew Hede, who has just been named CEO of Crescent, will lead the company through its bankruptcy filing. The firm’s previous CEO, Arthur Fields, has stepped down. “It is critical to understand that the filing and restructuring should have minimal impact on the company’s continuing operations, which will remain ‘business as usual’ throughout the process,” Hede wrote in an open letter on the company’s Web site. “Despite the unprecedented challenges facing the real estate industry, Crescent’s underlying business model is solid with many very attractive assets.”
The filing is aimed at improving Crescent’s standing in the marketplace and is not a sign that the company is going out of business. Crescent Resources has divisions in Atlanta; Nashville, Tenn.; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. A few of its more notable Southeast holdings include the 1 million-square-foot Corporate Centre at Cool Springs in Nashville, and the 571,540-square-foot Crescent Ridge in Atlanta. The company is a joint development partner in Atlanta’s 500,000-square-foot Phipps Tower
— Jon Ross