NASDAQ-listed Tacoma real estate development firm files for Chapter 11 protection
Real estate development company Harbor Custom Development, based in Tacoma, on Monday, Dec. 11, announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The NASDAQ-listed company, known for multifamily housing development in the region and upscale housing development in other parts of the country, said in a news release it had “voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Western District of Washington at Tacoma ... to pursue an orderly wind down or restructuring of its business.”
It stated that it had filed motions “that will allow it to continue operating in the ordinary course of business while it prepares a Plan of Reorganization to ensure that it can maximize value for the benefit of its creditors.”
The company said it would continue “to market and sell finished lots and homes and to operate multi-family projects as they work towards stabilization.”
Its filing listed total assets of $223,981,000, and total debts $172,528,500 as of Sept. 30. A profile of the company online showed 41 employees, while its LinkedIn profile lists “11-50” workers.
The company this year has seen management reshuffling, with former CEO Sterling Griffin retiring in July. Interim CEO Jeff Habersetzer, the company’s former chief operating officer, has been at the helm since Griffin’s departure.
Its chief financial officer, Lance Brown, resigned in July, with the company announcement noting the departure did “not relate to any disagreement with the company’s management, the board of directors ..., or the company’s independent auditors regarding any matter pertaining to the company’s operations, accounting practices, financial disclosures, internal controls, policies, or practices.”
The company abandoned plans for a luxury apartment development in Tacoma over the summer.
Griffin blamed a dismal first-quarter earnings report this year partially on “ongoing challenges in the broader housing market, including higher mortgage interest rates and inflationary pressures.”
The publicly traded company, which started in Gig Harbor in 2014, relocated its headquarters to Tacoma in 2022. It also turned its regional focus to multifamily apartment development, instead of single-family homes. It completed Pacific Ridge, 8445 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma, in 2022. That project had been planned as condominiums, later switching to apartments.
Habersetzer stated in the release, “The Chapter 11 cases will provide the Company with time and breathing-room needed to market and sell its real estate assets and right-size operations for the benefit of the Company’s creditors and stakeholders.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 3:38 PM.
