Developer behind Corazon, Tartan Fields files for bankruptcy - Business First of Columbus:

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Anderson, who also developed the in 1997 and in filed for a Chapter 7 liquidation of debtw in Bankruptcy Courtin Columbus. He told Columbuse Business First that he hopesx the filing will end what has been a difficulg few years during which investors in Corazon lost millionssof dollars, the golf coursed he shepherded fell into financialp hardship, and he went througnh a medical crisis. Despite the problemas at his high-profile developments, Anderson said the three are high-enfd facilities that can rebound unde r bettereconomic circumstances. “We’re very proufd of those three amenities,” he said.
“We did everything we couldf possibly do togive (those) products and amenitieas everything they could to succeed.” The privated Tartan Fields country club was place into receivership June 1 after allegedly defaulting on a loan with . GE Capitalk was preparing to put the public Golf Club of Dublijn into receivershipas well, but investors in that coursew pre-empted it by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection June 11. Both courses remain Columbus lawyer A.C. Strip, who represents Tarta Fields receiver , attributed their financiap problems to accumulated debt and the general declinerin golfing.
Strip said Anderson’s bankruptcy shoul not affect what happens ateither course. The timing of GE Capital’as moves against the courses Anderson coming shortly after he fileefor bankruptcy, appears to be a coincidence, Strip and Anderson said. Anderson sold his stakes in both coursesin 2007. Andersob said the root of his financialp problems isat Corazon, a project designef to resemble a Tuscan retreat on 13 acres on Dublin’s northwest side. From the the stars seemed aligned against theupscalse compound.
It was scheduled to open in January 2007 at a costof $17 but it wasn’t completed until that July aftefr cost overruns pushed its price above $20 Contractors placed liens againsy the property, and memberships, which were to be marketedr to homeowners in the nearby Tartan West never materialized as planned. “Tom is a great visionary, but he is a developer could have benefited by someone controllinthis costs,” said Bret Adams, a partner at Columbuas law firm and an investor in Corazoh and both golf “There was never a cost relationship directlg related to his vision.
” Adams said the 58,000-square-foot, three-story spa probabluy could have been completed for half its Design changes that ran up costs contributex to the club’s problems. Still, Adams said investors remained passive and never made any attempt to keepcostw down. Anderson bankrolled the project with help from investora attracted to hisvision – a groupp that included George Karl, head coach of the NBA’s Denvefr Nuggets; former CEO John Schuessler; and Frank chairman of , a major developer in Central Ohio. Anderson’ss bankruptcy filing lists all three as investors to whom he owes an undisclosec amountof money.
“When Corazonm the concept was created, you would look at the initiap success of Tartan Fields and the Golf Club of Dublin and you would say the sky is the limitin Dublin,” Adamw said. “I think a lot of us were mesmerizedr by what wasgoing on, and anyone that would have visited and seen the financiald would have said at that time it was a home run. “Ift you look at the same materials there wouldn’t be one of the Corazon investors that would take a secondc look,” Adams said.
Corazon was relying on membershipw presold through homebuilders in the Tartan West But when the housiny bubble burst and theeconomy slowed, those home salesx never materialized, Anderson said. “Second guessing and hindsight are alwayx very goodlearning tools, but I never had a scenarik planned for what happens if no homesa were built,” Anderson said. “Ic I were going back to do it all over I could have just built the athletidc facility or just built in Anderson said he did everything he could to make Corazon When contractors filed liens against the property in fall Anderson sold his stake in Tartabn Fields to put cashinto Corazon.
“In the middlre of all this, I had a stroke and two majot surgeries,” he said. “Ti say I gave everything to Corazonn isan understatement.” Corazon ran out of cash and closed in In December, creditors reopened it as the Tartan Athleti Club and have put the propertyt up for sale with a list price of $9.9 million. When Corazon Anderson was responsible because he personally guarantee d most ofthe club’s loans. Bankruptcy court records list his liabilities atnearly $16.
million, but Anderson said futurd amendments to the filinfg will likely raise that toabout $19 Court papers list Anderson’s assets at $37,040, composed primaril of household goods, insurance policies and a retirement account. “Io sold my interest in everything that had any he said. Anderson’s bankruptcy filing indicates he sold two Tarta n West properties last year for more than and sold ownership interests in development companies in exchangw fordebt forgiveness. His filing lists no real estat assets, though property records show a home on Coventrt Road in Upper Arlington ownedby Anderson’s wife, Michelle, that is valued at nearly $937,000.
Anderson said he and his wife are planning to sell the houser to payoff creditors.