ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310035
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
David ``Mudcat'' Saunders, a prominent Roanoke real estate developer, on Tuesday filed for personal bankruptcy liquidation, blaming his financial problems on a soured commercial venture in Richmond.
Saunders said his bankruptcy would not affect his Roanoke holdings, notably a partnership owning the Marketplace Center, a renovated Roanoke City Market building that houses shops and offices, including the Roanoke Valley Visitor and Convention Bureau. Saunders also is managing partner of the Shenandoah and Earle Hotel properties, also on the City Market.
Saunders did not submit detailed financial schedules with the initial bankruptcy filing, but estimated his debts at about $5 million. No estimate of assets was filed and the petition said there probably would be no funds available for unsecured creditors.
Most creditors listed in his petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Roanoke were banks: Crestar, First Union, Signet, NationsBank, Central Fidelity, Salem Bank and Trust and First National Bank of Blacksburg.
Other creditors are partners in his real estate ventures, accountants, law firms and engineering and construction companies.
``Without question, this has been the hardest, most painful decision of my life - a decision I have fought on a nonstop basis for the past six years,'' Saunders said in an interview.
``However,'' he added, ``there comes a time when all your bullets have been fired and you must accept the reality of the situation. Today, I accept that reality.''
In the late 1980s, he said, ``I made a critical mistake from which I've never been able to recover.''
His earlier successes in the Roanoke real estate market, he said, ``gave me a false sense of invulnerability, which led to my involvement in a multimillion-dollar commercial deal in Richmond. Therein lies my demise. I simply bit off more than I can chew."
He said the property involved is a large commercial tract of land on West Broad Street in the Short Pump suburbs of Richmond, which he was never able to develop.
His investments in Roanoke, he said, particularly those on the historic Farmers Market, are not part of his financial problems. Saunders said the Roanoke partnerships are doing well.
Saunders bought the Roanoke City Market properties in 1989.
He is a partner with Richard Wells, president of Leisure Publishing Co., in Marketplace Center. Wells, whose company publishes Roanoker magazine, could not be reached for comment.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB