The future of San Clemente’s stalled Marblehead Coastal development is in further doubt after the 248-acre project was placed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the management of Irvine-based SunCal Cos.
Master developer SunCal on Wednesday filed involuntary petitions for Marblehead and three other projects it is trying to develop in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.
Marblehead is the largest and most prominent Orange County property to file for bankruptcy amid the real estate downturn.
The company said the filings were made in order to obtain funding, following the September bankruptcy of one of its key financiers, New York-based Lehman Brother Holdings Inc.
Lehman is the sole funding source for Marblehead, SunCal officials said. The stalled project, located just west of the San Diego (I-5) Freeway next to the ocean, is expected to include more than 300 pricey homes and an outlet center.
Two SunCal entities, led by President Bruce Elieff, are listed as filing the Marblehead involuntary petition. The filing said the developer is owed $1.8 million for work it has performed at the project.
The other involuntary petitions filed on Wednesday are for Northlake, a 1,500-acre project in planning in Los Angeles’ Santa Clarita Valley where 4,000 homes are planned; and two projects planned for Beaumont in Riverside County.
About $2.7 million is owed to SunCal and other petitioners for those three projects.
The involuntary petitions come less than a week after another 14 SunCal-related entities, totaling at least eight separate projects, were voluntarily placed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the consent of Lehman.
