Developer files for Chapter 11 to prevent auction of Hudson Heights dev site

Foreclosure was slated for August 15

An illustration of a bankrupt man and a rendering of One Bennett Park at 33-35 Overlook Terrace (Credit: PropertyIDX and iStock)
An illustration of a bankrupt man and a rendering of One Bennett Park at 33-35 Overlook Terrace (Credit: PropertyIDX and iStock)

Just before a long-delayed Hudson Heights condominium project hit the auction block, its developer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Developer Rutherford Thompson filed for bankruptcy protection for the holding company that owns the development site at 33-35 Overlook Terrace, known as One Bennett Park, Crain’s reported. A foreclosure auction for the site was scheduled for August 15, but now the developer has extra time to find a buyer.

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“For the last several months, I have worked diligently to sell the property,” Thompson said in the bankruptcy filing. “The goal of the Chapter 11 filing is to preserve the status quo while the debtor takes one final opportunity to procure a buyer for the property so as not to forfeit a project that still retains a potentially bright future after 10 years of turmoil.”

Thompson purchased the site in 2006 and planned to build a 23-story, 114-unit residential condo building. But the project faced some construction hurdles and then was hit hard by 2008 recession. Amalgamated Bank, which owns more than $30 million in debt against the site, scheduled the foreclosure auction. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel