The Roosevelt: Attracting more lawyers than buyers
Condo auctions are now like smack for buyers—people get hooked and just start jonesing for the next one. But if a bankruptcy judge ruled last month that the Roosevelt, developer Milbank’s troubled building at 7th and Flower streets, could sell some of its condos at an auction, there’s still no firm date on when that event might take place. “Possibly April,” says Randall Green, sales director for the building, adding interested parties can stay up to date by signing up for information on the Roosevelt’s web site. Meanwhile, lender Bank of America continues its aggressive fight for the building, which was put into Chapter 11 last year by Milbank. Weeks after the auction was OK'd, the bank filed papers challenging Milbank’s reorganization plan,arguing that the Chapter 11 case should be converted to a Chapter 7 case, a scenario which see the assets liquidated (the Brockman, another downtown condo building, was also a Chapter 7 case). A March 16th hearing will consider that motion.
Meanwhile, an ongoing legal dispute between the Los Angeles Community College District of Los Angeles and the Roosevelt over an alleyway off Wilshire Boulevard, has been dragged into the bankruptcy case. Here's the background on that case: The alley is owned by LACC, and located directly next to the group's headquarters at 770 Wilshire Blvd. See it below:
A narrow passage measuring 30 feet by 100 feet, the alley is now being used as essentially an exit ramp for the Roosevelt parking garage (the garage's entrance is on Flower). While Roosevelt has an easement in the alley, the LACC believes the heavy auto traffic is too much of a strain for the area. Additionally, the LACC wants to put in a new trash collection elevator in the alley. A final decision is pending in the case, but Bank of America's lawyers are using that case to challenge Milbank over the Chapter 11 plan, arguing there hasn't been sufficient explanation of what might happen if there is a "negative outcome in the Easement Action."
Presumably, if access to the alley was lost, Roosevelt owners using the garage on Flower St. could still exit and enter via the Flower St., though perhaps it wouldn't be as sexy a parking system as is currently in place. That's the entranceway for the Flower St. garage:
Reps for Milbank didn't return calls. Lawyers for the Los Angeles Community College District declined to comment on the case.
And finally, that lawsuit that was brought by a group of Roosevelt buyers looking to get out of their contract was settled late last year, according to Bill Pham, attorney at McKenna Long & Aldridge, who handled the case. While Pham couldn't talk about the details of the case, he described buyers "as very happy" with the outcome.
· Roosevelt archives [Curbed LA[
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