Results tagged “bankruptcy”

Washington bankruptcies are up just over 50 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, says the Seattle Times. 15,000 people and 87 businesses filed. On the other hand, says the Times editorial board, we've "turned a corner." The editorial board, just for reference, may be sniffing glue.

Restaurant newshound Nancy Leson of the Seattle Times broke the surprising news yesterday that The Oceanaire Seafood Room has shut its doors for good. It turns out their parent company--which has already removed Seattle from its website and closed down its blog, Facebook, and Twitter feed on June 30--filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, revealing that their new restructuring plan included shutting down four of the sixteen chain seafood restaurants across the U.S. While we typically don't profess our love for chain restaurants, we do have to admire and appreciate Oceanaire for bringing the talented former executive chefs Kevin Davis, 2001-06 (Steelhead Diner), Eric Donnelly, 2006-08 (Toulouse), and Aaron Valimont, 2008-09, into the Seattle food community.

Indeed, we mean bankruptcy. As previously predicted, the 89-year-old Bellevue-based outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. has finally thrown in the flannel after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. For some time, it hadn't been looking good for the "original outdoor outfitter," who lost nearly a half billion dollars over the past three years. Today, they've found themselves with $476.1 million in total assets and $426.7 million in total debt. In part of the filing agreement, the local retailer will sell off its remaining assets to a private equity firm, who plans to keep a majority of the retailer's employees and operate a majority of its stores while under court protection. The bankruptcy of Eddie Bauer makes them the third national retailer and high-profile Washington company to file for bankruptcy.

• So excited to hear about Cap. Hill's quest to get hipsters fat opening of Captain Black's. We've always wanted to know what came first, the chicken or the waffle?
• Nick Montana -- Joe Montana's son, rated one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation --says he'll attend college at UW.
• Scoot, scoot! All you scooters get your little 50cc engines running for the second annual All City Scooter Day, coming up this Saturday.

Devastating news for most adolescents as their favorite malls--and parent-free hang-outs--are facing bankruptcy. General Growth Properties Inc., the nation's second-largest mall operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which owns local mall properties: Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham, and Westlake Center in Seattle. With their stock prices cheaper than an on-sale pack of gum, financial reorganization will be key, for what's been claimed as the largest real estate failure. We just hope it can turn around, so it doesn't force a void (and access to the Monorail) in downtown.

Back in November we mentioned that General Growth Properties, the owners of several Washington malls including Westlake Center, had hired legal help to deal with mounting bills. Another deadline passed on March 16--GGP was trying to persuade creditors holding $2.25 billion of its unsecured notes wait for payment until the end of 2009--and now hedge fund investor William Ackman is pushing for a seat on the board of GGP, and predicting that bankruptcy is the only way to go. What that means for Westlake and GGP's other Washington properties is anyone's guess, as the real estate market is not exactly hopping.

Pioneer Property creditors received notice from the group's bank over the weekend of the group's bankruptcy filing that their bills are not being paid. Pioneer Property Group was behind the Live Historic brand, and at one point owned seven "rehabilitated" vintage buildings on Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, and First Hill, and in Fremont and Pioneer Square. We visited a few of them, condo-shopping, and they were great old buildings, but Pioneer was sailing directly into the teeth of a bursting real estate bubble and general recession. Our condolences to the people who thought they'd bought into the safety and security of a home. UPDATE: Now we hear that bankruptcy has not been filed, but Live Historic's office is closed and their phone is dead.

Q13, our local softcore right-wing television station, has made a bold move in the reporting of our faltering local economy by actually filing for bankruptcy themselves. Well, the parent of KCPQ-TV, the Chicago-based Tribune Co., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, which means we might soon be seeing creditors face off in no-holds-barred cage matches on upcoming Jerry Springer shows. Our money is on Judge Karen, by the way.

Washingon "state ranks 12th in the nation--up from 27th last year--in average monthly growth in bankruptcy filings from 2007 to 2008, reported AACER, a bankruptcy data and management firm." So says the Seattle Times, noting that bankruptcy filings are up 40% compared to last year. The story is worth a full read because it details how the more stringent bankruptcy regulations, which the Bush administration enacted in 2005, has resulted mainly in people taking more debt into bankruptcy court. And Robert Lawless coins what could be the best epitaph for both the reforms and the Bush presidency: "not a very good match with reality."

No one's saying anything, but the clouds look pretty dark for the mall's current owners. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chicago's General Growth Properties have hired very specific legal help, bringing on "the law firm Sidley Austin as bankruptcy counsel while it negotiates with lenders for more time to restructure its $27 billion debt load." If Westlake isn't the market already, the auction block is becoming a distinct possibility.

Yesterday we mentioned the scuttlebutt about malled-up REIT General Growth Properties putting Westlake Center up for sale. Today GGP stocks were hammered after the company announced it "might be forced to seek protection from its creditors as it struggles to refinance debt," and are now trading at around $0.40 in after-hours trading. GGP has $958 million in debt due Dec. 1, but a "good price" for Westlake was quoted at just $150 million, so it's going to take more than that to right the REIT's ship.

Marketwatch has a good FAQ for Washington Mutual clients wondering if their money is still there. Short answer: it's all good. Unless you're a shareholder. Shareholders are screwed--officially, whenever what's left of WaMu declares bankruptcy. Alan Fishman, WaMu's 3-week CEO, is not screwed, though it may be difficult for him to find another job that pays $18 million per month. WaMu depositors precipitated the bank's failure by withdrawing $16.7 billion in a little over a week. The only silver lining is that buyer "JPMorgan Chase will absorb at least $31 billion in losses that would normally have fallen to the F.D.I.C."