The developer who created Georgia shopping venues, including the Forum on Peachtree Parkway, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a multipronged Chapter 11 reorganization involving at least $177 million in debt.
Various entities of Fourth Quarter Properties, founded by Newnan-based real estate developer Stanley E. Thomas, are seeking reorganization in six different actions filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Thomas, according to his attorney, has more than 200 operating companies around the country.
The actions, which likely will be consolidated, involve three different properties: an undeveloped 104-acre plot of land known as Prospect Park in Alpharetta near Georgia 400; The Rim, an 800-acre mixed-use development in San Antonio, Texas, which hosts a massive Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, JCPenney, an IMAX theatre and a Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant; and another property, which is not described in the filing, but is known as Village Pavilion. 
Other Georgia properties operated by Thomas—Forum at Ashley Park and Newnan Crossing, both in Newnan, and the Forum on Peachtree Parkway—are not listed among the debtors.
James P. Smith at Stone & Baxter in Macon is handling five of the six cases. He said Wachovia holds a lien on the Alpharetta property, which has debt of about $60 million.
The Rim, he said, has filed four separate actions involving different debtors, each of which owns a portion of the shopping center and has its own tenants. “There are some common trade creditors, and there are five banks which hold a lien on all four properties, and all the filing entities are jointly obligated on a debt of about $116 million.”
In that debt, he said, Wachovia serves as the administrative agent for itself and four other banks: Compass Bank, PNC Bank, Carolina First Bank and Aliant Bank.
The sixth case, which involves the Village Pavilion property, is being handled by Jeffrey F. Montgomery and Jason C. Grech at Cushing, Morris, Armbruster & Montgomery. Grech declined to comment; Montgomery could not be reached by deadline.
According to the bankruptcy petition, Village Pavilion has between $1 million and $10 million in debt.
Smith said the debtors he represents decided to file for reorganization not because the shopping centers have been hit by the down economy but because they were unsuccessful in converting short-term loans, which had come due, into long-term loans. A foreclosure action was running, he said, and reorganization seemed the best option.
“The loans had all matured, and they were negotiating with the banks to renew them. They couldn’t pay the full $116 million in cash, but the properties have close to $700,000 in excess cash flow each month, so there’s plenty of money to amortize debt. But for whatever reason, they couldn’t make a deal,” he said. “We all know that banks are more reluctant to make loans these days. I’m not sure what the dynamics were on the bank side.”
The debtors have petitioned for consolidation, but for now, the cases are: Fourth Quarter Properties XLVII, No. 09-13959; Fourth Quarter Properties 118, No. 09-13960; Fourth Quarter Properties 140, No. 09-13961; Fourth Quarter Properties 161, No. 09-13962; Fourth Quarter Properties 162, No. 09-13963; and Fourth Quarter Properties V Inc., No. 09-13968.