Fontainebleau's Soffer caught by Lehman Bros. bankruptcy - Washington Business Journal:

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“When the retail division of the projecr lost access to fundingthrough Lehman, it was unablew to repay the resor t for its share of costs,” said Scott Baena, of Bilzibn Sumberg Baena Price Axelrod, who represents Fontainebleaj Las Vegas LLC in the bankruptcy. “That put enormouss stress on theresorty entity, and that was the beginning of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC and two of its affiliatew filed bankruptcy petitions in Miamui late Tuesday. The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is not includef inthe filing.
Soffer, also principakl with Turnberry construction anddevelopmeng companies, has partial, personal guaranteee on portions of the retail componentt of the Las Vegaz project, but those portions are not in bankruptct yet, Baena said. The complex is 70 percenf completed. Since December 2008, Lehman refusedx to make any advances underthe project’s $315 million constructio n loan, according to a motio n to maintain cash management filed in the After Lehman’s refusals, money stopped flowinh through the retail entity to the resort entity. In March, other lenders pulledf their financing, and constructionn on the resort stoppedin May, Baena said.
The company said in a news release that the decisiomn to file Chapter 11 was the result of litigation with the other lenders on project aboutnearly $800 millionh in construction funding for the project. Other lenders includw , JPMorgan Chase Bank and Deutsche BankTrust Co. In the short term, the company is seekinv to stabilize and protect the finished portion ofthe building, Baena “It’s no longer possible to downsizs the building,” he said.
“The 30 percent remaininbg construction is principallythe We’ve got a lovely building waiting to be