A stalled 6,000-home development near Bakersfield overseen by Irvine-based SunCal Cos. could go to auction as early as Friday, according to a report.
In April, SunCal defaulted on a loan for McAllister Ranch, a golf course development that saw construction stop last year, according to the Bakersfield Californian newspaper.
The auction could lead to the property’s ownership reverting to one of SunCal’s main financial partners, New York-based Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
SunCal owed more than $244.5 million on a loan for McAllister Ranch as of late July, according to the Bakersfield Californian.
Officials for SunCal said last week they still were in talks with Lehman to restructure the loan, which could lead to the auction being cancelled or postponed.
Debt on McAllister Ranch is tied to two other SunCal projects in Riverside County; the 1,600-home McSweeney Farms project in Hemet, and the 3,683-home SummerWind Ranch project in Calimesa.
Those two projects also are slated to be auctioned off.
SunCal said in April it was restructuring deals for up to 30 developments, including several Lehman-backed projects, as it dealt with falling land values amid the real estate downturn.
The reworked projects were said to include San Clemente’s Marblehead Coastal housing development, which has seen construction stop and sales efforts halted.
