Q-C developer Ales files for bankruptcy in hopes of protecting Missouri resort

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By Tom Saul | Thursday, November 6, 2008 11:35 PM CST | () comments

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Chris Ales Bankruptcy

Davenport developer Chris Ales has filed for bankruptcy protection for a Missouri resort and country club he owns to shield it from creditors while he searches for another source of money to make good on bank loans, his attorney said.

The filing by Fisher Creek LC in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Iowa asks for Chapter 11

protection, said Richard Davidson, his Davenport attorney. Chapter 11 allows protection of assets while a business or individual reorganizes finances in hopes of emerging from the process.

“He has property worth about $8 million, and there are two banks that are owed

$4 million or $5 million,” Davidson said. “They are trying to steal the property out from under us, and we’re not going to let them do that.”

The filing involves the Fisher Creek Inn and Fisher Creek Country Club in Kimberling City, Mo. The property’s Web site says “this hand-crafted luxury resort is the newest and finest lakeside destination in southwest Missouri centrally located on Table Rock at Kimberling City.”

The filing is the latest in a string of financial difficulties for Ales, who has redeveloped historic properties in Davenport, Muscatine and Maquoketa in Iowa as senior-living facilities. In March, investors forced him out of a project to redevelop the Hurst Hotel in Maquoketa after financial problems and liens filed by creditors.

Other recent actions in Iowa include filing of a foreclosure by Valley Bank on Meadowcrest Phase II, a suit by US Bank to collect on a loan and filings with the Iowa Secretary of State that indicate that Ales-held companies have been replaced as managing members or general partners in two Davenport developments.

In August, Valley Bank filed action against an Ales-owned company called Davenport Housing V LP to foreclose on Meadowcrest Phase II, at 2501 W. 53rd St., a senior housing project. The bank seeks to collect nearly $2.1 million plus costs and attorney’s fees, according to a court file.

On Oct. 27, US Bank filed suit to collect on a $242,477 note after it claimed Ales and some of his companies failed to make “timely and adequate payments,” according to court records.

Filings in August with the Iowa Secretary of State division of corporations note that Ales-owned companies Marycrest Housing LC, Davenport Housing LP, Davenport Housing II LP and Davenport Housing IV LP have been removed as managing members or general partners from Petersen Commons senior housing, at the former Marycrest College, and St. Katherine’s Senior Apartments at 1021 E. 10th St.

Davidson said he has not been involved in legal actions regarding the bank suits, but Ales has been trying to negotiate settlements. Ales could not be reached for comment.

As for the Marycrest and St. Katherine’s projects, Davidson said the two were completed using federal tax credits sold to investors. Ales has tried repeatedly without success to renegotiate terms with The Richman Capital Group Corp., of Greenwich, Conn., which represents investors, that would allow his companies to remain involved. A spokesman for Richman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

“We attempted to work with them in a number of scenarios, and Richman declined to work with us,” Davidson said. “They say they’ve lost confidence.”

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.