Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300133
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
GABLES PARTNERSHIP FILES FOR PROTECTION FROM CREDITORS
Gables Partnership, which runs Gables Shopping Center, avoided a foreclosure scheduled for Friday by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Robert L. Dann, vice president of Integon Insurance in Winston Salem, N.C., said the insurance company planned to foreclose on the property Friday at 10 a.m.
Under Chapter 11, the Gables Partnership headed by Fred Myers, president of Mycor Inc. in Nashville, Tenn., is protected from its creditors.
Marcus H. Long Jr., a Blacksburg lawyer representing Integon, said foreclosure was necessary because Gables Partnership was behind on its mortgage payments to Integon.
For several months, tenants of the Blacksburg shopping center have been required to pay rent directly to the mortgage loan department at Integon.
Long wouldn't say how much Gables owes Integon.
The first meeting of creditors is scheduled for Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. in the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke.
Gables has suffered high vacancy rates since Leggett department store moved to the New River Valley Mall in 1988.
That seemed to be turning around, however, with Harris Teeter scheduled to move later this year into the 30,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by Leggett.
Emily Watkins, director of real estate and construction for the grocery chain, said Friday that she was unaware that Gables Partnership had filed for bankruptcy and wasn't sure whether it would affect the planned store.
The arrival of Harris Teeter also has given Gables Associates its share of legal problems.
Harris Teeter officials agreed to move into the shopping center two years ago, but the store was delayed when Wade's Supermarket, also in the shopping center, claimed the landlord had violated its lease by recruiting Harris Teeter.
Wade's sued Gables Associates in 1990 seeking $3.15 million in damages or an injunction to keep Harris Teeter out of the shopping center. The local chain lost its fight in Montgomery County Circuit Court and appealed. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled against Wade's in June.
Scott Wade, director of operations for Wade's, said Friday that the grocery chain will move its Blacksburg store across the street to Blacksburg Square Shopping Center.