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Blackhawk Plaza is set to hit the market in the near future amid ongoing maintenance and tenancy issues on the ground and its current owner’s financial troubles coming to a head in bankruptcy court.
That plan was confirmed after months of rumors and growing concerns from neighboring residents and visitors in a status report filed this week in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for property owners Ramanujan Group LLC.
“The Debtor and Iron Condor intend to sell the Property and are in the process of executing a listing agreement with KW Commercial and CBRE, Inc. together serving as the listing agents,” attorneys for Ramanujan Group from Raines Feldmen Littrell wrote Wednesday in the report filed for its bankruptcy case.
The site was appraised at $57.38 million in 2023, with attorneys estimating that number to now be higher according to insight from brokers.
That’s a significant increase from the $38 million pricetag Ramanujan Group initially obtained the ornate shopping center for, which has served as Blackhawk’s central shopping and dining hub since 1989, built within the first decade of the affluent planned community’s development by the late Ken Behring.
The site is currently subject to $35.8 million in liens, and $657,111 in outstanding property taxes.
While turmoil behind and in front of the scenes at the plaza has been a prominent topic locally amid tenant departures, lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings, the plaza is just one of many concerns facing Andrew Stupin, the Southern California real estate investor who headed Ramanujan Group through its purchase of the site.Â
In addition to the bankruptcy proceedings connected with a large real estate portfolio and multiple lenders, Stupin’s real estate firm Cantor Group V was the subject of an FBI raid last year and numerous ongoing allegations of fraud documented in a series of civil lawsuits, inclding June 25 federal filing from Western Alliance Bank.
The plaza faced foreclosure earlier this year amid one of those lawsuits in Orange County Court, with Nano Banc alleging that Ramanujan Group had failed to pay back a loan that was taken out in order to fund the purchase of the property. A judge approved the appointment of a receiver in that case, who is set to transition out according to the plan outlined by attorneys Wednesday.
Part of the plan also includes bringing on temporary employees from Grobstein Teeple, the Southern California financial consultancy firm headed by Howard Grobstein, who was appointed as Ramanujan Group’s manager through bankruptcy proceedings in April “because of concerns raised by various constituencies about former management,” according to attorneys.
The status update was prepared for a July 15 hearing in Central California bankruptcy court, with attorneys seeking an extension to a July 16 deadline to submit a full disclosure plan.
“Because of delays in getting financial information from the Receiver and in transitioning out the Receiver, the Debtor is going to need an extension of that deadline for approximately 90 days and will be filing a motion seeking that relief,” attorneys wrote.
“A further extension will be needed because the Debtor will not yet have control over the funds needed to make the payment,” attorneys wrote.
