BANKRUPT DEVELOPER BLAMES TIGHT LENDING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993                   TAG: 9303090078
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BANKRUPT DEVELOPER BLAMES TIGHT LENDING
A developer of $43 million worth of real estate in Rockbridge County and Florida said Monday he was forced to file for bankruptcy protection because of difficulty in getting loans.
Stuart Fisher of Sarasota, Fla., told a Roanoke meeting of creditors of C&R, a development company, that "economic times" caused his problems. His petition for reorganization stalled a foreclosure, but he said that was not the main reason for the filing.
His 82-acre tract near the Virginia Horse Center has potential for a 250-room hotel and a residential, commercial and professional development, Fisher said. His court filing reports assets of $43 million and debt of $19.9 million. Land is the only asset, he said.
Fisher said he owns 1,700 acres on a bay near St. Petersburg, Fla., where he proposes to build 1,300 homes, 141,000 square feet of commercial space, a golf course, a country club and a marina.
He said he needs to borrow $20 million to $25 million for the Rockbridge development and about $32 million for the Florida project.
"To try to get that kind of money is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible," he said.
He has all of the local permits for both projects, he said, and both properties "have substantial value if I wanted to sell." He has applications at several mortgage companies for what he called infrastructure loans. He said he hopes for a loan from a Long Island Teamsters pension fund and he expects financing in the next year to 18 months.
A joint venture is his second option for financing the real estate development; selling, he said, is "the least palatable . . . We're not looking at liquidation." He expects to have a plan for paying creditors before the May 26 deadline.
The reorganization petition was filed in Virginia because the Internal Revenue Service recognizes this type of limited liability corporation here, but not in Florida, said Fisher's lawyer, Hampton Thomas. Thomas's office is C&R's address. Fisher said he is manager and the only stockholder of C&R.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB