Ali Choudhri is taking blows on multiple fronts.
The embattled investor, who heads office landlord Jetall Capital, lost a temporary restraining order that shielded a Post Oak office asset from foreclosure. The property, at 50 Briar Hollow Lane, is a two-building, 195,000-square-foot complex that was appraised at $22 million this year by the Harris Central Appraisal District.
On June 4, Choudhri and his lender traded a series of quick-fire legal maneuvers. Veritex Community Bank, which provided a $20 million loan on the property in 2013, was given bankruptcy court approval to proceed with foreclosure proceedings on the asset, court records show. Choudhri, who owns the property through an entity called Galleria West Loop Investments, responded by filing another temporary restraining order request, this time in a Harris County court. That request was granted. It was the fourth time Choudhri had filed for a restraining order on the asset.
Veritex filed an emergency motion, also on June 4, seeking to nullify the Harris County order. In its filing, Veritex called the order “invalid” and argued that the case fell under the jurisdiction of federal bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur quickly ruled in favor of Veritex, dissolving the Harris County restraining order and appointing a Chapter 11 trustee for the property.
The foreclosure comes less than a week after Xavier Academy, a tenant at the former Xerox headquarters, at 1001 West Loop South, sued Choudhri. Xavier claims it was locked out of the property after Choudhri offered to sell the fifth floor space it was renting.
“After I informed Mr. Choudhri that Xavier was not interested in the proposal, Mr. Choudhri became angry, entered a tirade, and promised retaliation. Mr. Choudhri had stated that he had been ‘nice’ to me but no longer if Xavier rejected his proposal,” Xavier Academy founder Richard De La Cuadra said in a court declaration. The school also claimed that Choudhri failed to reimburse it for $715,660 in tenant improvement costs.
Choudhri’s name is spelled Choudri in some of the legal documents.
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“The landlord has not been in any sort of default; the tenant is in default,” a spokesperson for Jetall said in a statement. The company told The Real Deal that it could provide court transcripts that would prove its case. However, the documents are still forthcoming.
Choudhri is also battling his lender, Canadian firm Romspen, on the West Loop South asset. Romspen claims that Choudhri has fallen behind on a $21 million loan, and it is pushing for a foreclosure sale.
Aside from these two properties, Choudhri also has legal entanglements in relation to 2425 West Loop South, a 285,000-square-foot Galleria-area office property. Last month, a bankruptcy judge ordered the sale of the asset. Hilco Real Estate, which is conducting the sale, has a June 14 deadline to present qualifying bids for the property.