2 Real Estate Partnerships File Chapter 11

The owners of a Costa Mesa office building have filed for reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana.

Also, the Orange County owner of a large apartment complex in Texas has sought protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

South Coast Executive Park, a limited partnership that owns a 60,000-square-foot office building of the same name, filed Tuesday for court protection. The building is on Harbor Boulevard just south of the San Diego Freeway. In its Chapter 11 filing, the partnership did not specify its assets or liabilities. Its major creditor is listed as Connecticut General Co., a subsidiary of Cigna Holdings.

“Our expectation is to promptly propose a plan that will be either accepted by the creditors or confirmed by the court,” the partnership’s lawyer, Tom Polis, said Wednesday.

The other filing was by Pinelock Ltd., a Costa Mesa partnership that owns the Pinelock Apartments in the Houston suburb of Webster. Pinelock listed $16 million in liabilities, of which $13 million is secured debt owed to California Federal Bank.

Assets are about $15 million, said Rebekah Parker, the partnership’s lawyer.

Pinelock had a previous bankruptcy in Texas but had reorganized its finances successfully, Parker said. This week’s filing in Santa Ana was because the partnership was unable to make a balloon payment due Feb. 1 on a loan, she said.

The company expects to stretch out payment of its debt and secure a lower interest rate on its loan, Parker said.