courts:

Troubled real estate projects prompt lawsuits

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 11 a.m.

With scores of empty storefronts, unoccupied office buildings and vacant warehouses, lawsuits continue to pile up over troubled commercial real estate projects in the Las Vegas Valley.

With the recession pushing many loans into default, these are among the latest lawsuits to be filed in Clark County District Court:

-- City National Bank sued Rainbow 215 LLC, alleging it defaulted on a loan and that $9.665 million is now due. The bank has filed a notice of default and intent to sell the real estate backing the loan. The bank is also seeking the appointment of a receiver to manage and collect rent at Rainbow 215's shopping center at 6870 S. Rainbow Blvd., at the southeast corner of the Las Vegas Beltway and Rainbow Boulevard.

State records show Rainbow 215 LLC is managed by the Alireza Kaveh Family Trust and JPA Investments LLC. The defendants could not be located for comment Tuesday.

-- Town and Country Bank sued Payman Masachi, alleging Masachi breached a guarantee to cover payments for a loan made to Lucky Serene LLC. The bank says $7 million is due on the loan and it filed a notice of default and intent to sell property backing the loan near Sunset Road and Buffalo Drive.

Records indicate Masachi manages Lucky Serene. A message for comment was left for Masachi Tuesday.

-- William Plise, developer of the bankrupt City Crossing development in Henderson, was sued by more investors in the project. Four City Crossing business trusts -- numbered 9, 10, 11 and 12 -- say in their separate suits that Plise breached guarantees to pay notes on the project. Those suits seek $2.99 million, $2.134 million, $3.2 million and $1.448 million, respectively.

Plise earlier this month was sued by Eliot A. Alper, trustee of the Eliot A. Alper Revocable Trust; the Alper Limited Partnership and Spacefinders Realty Inc. They alleged Plise owes them more than $26 million and that he has been diverting assets to unknown parties for the purpose of defrauding creditors and hindering or delaying their efforts to collect debts.

Before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2008, City Crossing was planned as a 126-acre mixed-use development at St. Rose Parkway and Executive Airport Drive including luxury housing, offices and retail components.

Efforts to locate Plise for comment have been unsuccessful.

Jon Field is his attorney in an earlier suit filed against Plise by Bank of Nevada alleging breach of contract.

Field recently informed the court he is withdrawing from the case, saying that in addition to disputes over payments for his services, it has become "unreasonably difficult" to communicate with Plise and to further the attorney-client relationship with Plise since he ceased business operations and vacated his offices.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By Teaser

6/30/09 at 1:28 p.m.

Suggest removal

So, if we need a new city hall so badly, why not put it into these "scores of empty storefronts, unoccupied office buildings and vacant warehouses?" You could distribute services to the various parts of the valley that need them. Everything's already built. You'd have less waste and set a good national precedent. Oh, that's right. We couldn't name it after Oscar Goodman if we did this. Bad idea after all.
By Judy

6/30/09 at 1:40 p.m.

Suggest removal

Teaser - It could be that none of the properties listed are within the Las Vegas city limits ..............
By HookorCrook

6/30/09 at 2:50 p.m.

Suggest removal

It is a no-brainer that those commercial foreclosure disputes should be placed under the residential foreclosure mediation program. 90% of the Commercial disputes could be settled in three mediation sessions or less. The same person that mediates the residential disputes could easily resolve the commercial ones.
By mred

6/30/09 at 3:02 p.m.

Suggest removal

We need an additional stimulus bill that would have the government buy up excess commercial and residential properties. They could have people hired under the stimulus program tear down the older properties. They could make the good properties available to community groups like ACORN, to rent out to needy people, who could be subsidized by the government.
By Katie

6/30/09 at 9:18 p.m.

Suggest removal

"They could make the good properties available to community groups like ACORN, to rent out to needy people, who could be subsidized by the government."

Yes, let's begin the transformation of all of the Las Vegas Valley into Section 8......