Archinect - News

Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower to be auctioned online in October

2024-08-22T13:18:00-04:00

Embattled owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Price Tower building in Bartlesville, Oklahoma have announced an October auction in response to growing debt obligations, which have reportedly quadrupled to $2 million since a local couple purchased the landmark for just $10 early last year.

Details of the impending auction were first reported by local journalist Andy Dossett, who notes that "Washington County records indicate the assessed value of the property is $6,214,060."

Owner Cynthia Blanchard is now facing a separate legal challenge over the supposedly illegal sale of original furniture designs from the tower to a Dallas area design dealer earlier this summer. The auction will take place via the online platform Ten-X between October 7th and 9th. Blanchard will reportedly entertain offers beforehand. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy currently holds a preservation easement over the property, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and w...

Oceanwide Plaza auction rumored for mid-September after buyers' interest springs

2024-08-19T15:27:00-04:00

Multiple new bids to takeover the unfinished Oceanwide Plaza complex in downtown LA were reported last week in what could be a positive sign for its future. As per connectcre.com's reporting, an auction has been scheduled for “mid-September.” The update comes after months of speculation as to the future of the graffiti-tagged towers and a few short weeks after a new "saw horse" bidder had dropped their inquiry without submitting any offers.

“A key hurdle that any buyer would need to surmount is the question of financing: not so much to acquire the project, but rather to finish construction on it. The project has been appraised as-is at $434 million by Colliers as part of the Oceanwide Plaza bankruptcy proceedings. Completing the three-tower residential, retail and hotel complex could mean spending twice that amount,” their report reminds us.

(The 1.4-million-square-foot CallisonRTKL design was abandoned in 2020 and now stands as perhaps the largest unfinished project in the United ...

Oceanwide Plaza, LA's unfinished high-rise graffiti mecca, faces impending sale

2024-05-10T12:00:00-04:00

The Chinese owners of the stalled residential, hotel and retail complex towering over Crypto.com Arena have hired real estate brokers to sell the property to buyers who could restart the project after work stopped in 2019. Taggers recently covered its outer walls with graffiti visible from far away.

The LA Times also reports the brokerage firm Colliers to have submitted an application estimating the property’s current value at $485 million and stating it is still just 60% completed. Another $865 million would be required to finish the block-scale development designed by CallisonRTKL. Some had speculated it could be demolished. Costs for the cleanup of possibly the greatest graffiti takeover of recent memory have been reported at $3.8 million.

Adam Neumann is attempting to buy his way back into WeWork

2024-02-06T20:00:00-05:00

Five years after driving WeWork into the ground, co-founder and ousted CEO Adam Neumann has now hatched a plan to buy it out of bankruptcy. In a letter to WeWork’s advisers obtained by The New York Times, Neumann and his new real estate business, Flow Global, express interest in buying the co-working space solution — but claim WeWork has been ignoring attempts to get more information so they can come up with a bid.

WeWork, meanwhile, is beginning to walk away from even more properties under the direction of new CEO David Tolley after announcing an initial list of 40 that would be relinquished in November.

Neumann had cited outside scrutiny as his main reason for leaving the company in September 2019. His attempts since December to purchase the company through his new housing startup Flow Global constitutes the second such push since Bay Area financier Dan Loeb funded the project in August 2022. The return-to-office downturn is being cited as their principal motivation. In a letter to WeWork advisers, Neumann's attorney said it would be a "value-maximizing transaction for all stakeholders."

WeWork currently owes about $18.6 billion in debts, according to their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing from November.

WeWork seeks to vacate 40 New York properties following bankruptcy filing

2023-11-15T14:32:00-05:00

After officially filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, WeWork has released a subsequent list of 40 “underperforming locations” across New York City that the company hopes to walk away from over the coming months pending court approvals.

The news was first made public via the Commercial Observer, which also reported WeWork as identifying another 29 properties in the U.S. and Canada it plans to relinquish. The news adds to concerns over the performance of the commercial real estate market in New York and other cities. WeWork had been, until very recently, one of the biggest tenants in Manhattan.

The company has retained Hilco Real Estate to re-negotiate terms on its more than 400 outstanding leases and will allow some members to re-negotiate with landlords directly in certain cases. Current members will be transferred to better-performing locations still operated by WeWork. (The company has a total of 779 properties worldwide.)

Related on Archinect: WeWork is cutting ...

WeWork is mulling a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to reports

2023-11-01T16:03:00-04:00

WeWork's tumultuous thirteen-year saga may be coming to an end soon, as now Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have reported on the company’s apparently imminent plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey.

The news was first reported by the WSJ early Tuesday, precipitating a dramatic nearly 50% drop in WeWork’s stock evaluation. A spokesperson for the company told reporters from CNN the same day that they would not comment on the legal maneuver, calling the news “speculation.”

Shares of WeWork have fallen by 96% since the beginning of the year. The business model founder Adam Neumann developed into a record-breaking $47 billion initial valuation was ultimately felled by the post-pandemic rise in remote work and other factors, including multiple conflicts of interest that led to his resignation in September 2019.

Neumann has since pivoted to a new housing startup venture called Flow last summer following a $350 million outside investment and is yet to provide his own stat...

Large U.S. architecture firm, EYP, files for bankruptcy, may sell to subsidiary of Bitcoin miner

2022-04-29T10:42:00-04:00

U.S.-based firm EYP Architecture + Engineering has filed for bankruptcy due to pressure from debt obligations. The firm, based in Albany, New York, has 11 offices across the United States and employs 470 staff. The firm has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware owing $149 million in debts.

To address its debt burden, EYP has agreed to a deal to sell itself to Ault Alliance Inc for $68 million. Ault is a subsidiary company of BitNile, a cryptocurrency-focused company which owns and operates its own data center for mining bitcoin, and provides products orientated around disruptive technologies.

Yahoo Finance reports that Ault will make an offer of employment to all current employees of EYP, and that ongoing projects by the firm are not expected to be disrupted by the sale, which is expected to be completed by June 2022.

According to EY...

Bel Air 'The One' megamansion — once aiming for half-billion-dollar listing price — sells at bankruptcy auction

2022-03-07T12:03:00-05:00

The mega-mansion known as “The One” sold Thursday for $126 million at a bankruptcy auction. That’s a huge discount from its $295-million listing price, even with a 12% auction fee bringing the total to about $141 million. Concierge Auctions, which handled the sale, said its auction site drew views from 170 countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy — and generated some 2,800 prospects.

Developer Nile Niami had said during its construction that he hoped to someday see the 105,000-square-foot megamansion sell at a price point around $500 million. The One eventually went into default and was last seen in October when it was placed under receivership by the county.

Previously on Archinect: $500 million Bel Air megamansion defaults on $165 million debt, enters receivership

The LA Times reported that only five bidders from the United States and New Zealand participated in the auction and that the name of the buyer, which could very easily be a limited liability corporation, will be released Tuesday via a required entry before U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Deborah Salzman. At least one area realtor speculated that the dearth of interested buyers came as an indirect result of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

“The buyer pool for this is very small,” Compass’ Brent Change told the paper, “and with everything happening in Russia, all of a sudden those Russian billionaires who may...

An LLC attached to Helmut Jahn's erstwhile firm has now filed for bankruptcy

2021-09-01T10:54:00-04:00

Chicago Business is reporting that an LLC related to the firm founded by recently deceased architect Helmut Jahn is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an unfurling landlord-tenant dispute that began taking shape during the pandemic.

Jahn LLC reported gross revenues under $13,000 last year and has reported liabilities totaling $11 million compared to a little over $600,000 in available assets. The firm reported a total of $1 million in revenue between 2019 and 2020 comparatively.

Jahn was the sole proprietor of the LLC (which is separate from Jahn Architecture, Inc.), which has seen its prospects decimated by the architect’s loss this spring. The firm stands to bring in significant fees from its forthcoming 1,000m supertall development (to which the LLC is registered as the copyright holder), which will now fall subject to potential judgment creditors, particularly its landlord at 353 Clark St. DUS, depending on the court’s decision.

Crain’s has also reported that DUS was being sued ...

Contractor of collapsed FIU bridge in Miami files for bankruptcy

2019-03-04T17:59:00-05:00

Facing lawsuits from a collapsed bridge it helped build, Munilla Construction Management is asking a bankruptcy judge to protect it from creditors while borrowing millions of dollars to make payroll, continue building and not shut its doors after decades as one of South Florida’s largest government contractors.

The bankruptcy proceedings come on the eve of the first anniversary of the tragic Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse on March 15, 2018. Six people were killed in the accident.

Richard Neutra's Chuey House in danger of being torn down in bankruptcy sale

2017-09-05T14:13:00-04:00

Richard Neutra’s glass and steel Chuey House in the Hollywood Hills is being marketed as a ‘tear down’ for $10.5m. The architect designed the midcentury modern home for poet Josephine Ain Chuey in 1956, and it has since passed down to her niece and nephew, who filed for bankruptcy in June. It’s now being sold as a ‘truly unique development opportunity’, with no mention of its architectural merit – just its ‘spectacular’ Sunset Plaza Drive location and ‘unmatched panoramic views..."

Iconic, elegant, and now endangered: one of the works of the masters of mid-century modern architecture has been listed more for its lot than for the exquisitely cantilevered structure itself. After its completion, Josephine Ain, who was living with her husband Richard Chuey, wrote to Neutra that “You are an alchemist who has transmuted earth, house, and sky into a single enchantment. I can only hope that I can in some measure grow up to the wholeness and balance embodied here.”

Image: Julius Shulman

An artist-in-residency is stranded aboard a bankrupt freighter off the coast of Japan

2016-09-08T13:50:00-04:00

Part of the 23 Days at Sea residency, British video and performance artist Rebecca Moss left Vancouver on August 23 in a Hanjin freighter, expecting to dock in Shanghai on September 15. Run by Vancouver's Access Gallery, the residency focuses on issues of globalization, but what ended up happening during Moss's residency, while on-theme, wasn't exactly its goal.

On August 31, with debts amounting to $900 million, Hanjin Shipping Company filed for bankruptcy. Now placed in a receivership, meaning "in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights", Hanjin was refused entry by Shanghai. It's now stuck in aquatic limbo off the coast of Japan, looking for a place that will allow it to dock. The shipping company is the seventh-largest in the world, accounting for 7% of container trade between North America and East Asia.

In an email to Access Gallery, Moss wrote: “I can’t begin to describe how it feels to look out the window and...

Architecture for Humanity is being sued for $3M for mismanaging funds

2016-07-12T13:07:00-04:00

The founders and board members of Architecture for Humanity (AFH), the influential and accoladed non-profit organization, is being sued for $3M for alleged mismanagement of funds, according to an exclusive report published by Architectural Record. The report helps shed light on the circumstances under which the non-profit closed down last year.

Among those named in the lawsuit, which was filed on June 10, are the founders Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, both paid employees, and the 10 volunteer members of the board of directors, including the former head of the American Institute of Architects Clark Manus and architect Toshiko Mori.

According the lawsuit, AFH acted with "gross negligence", misappropriating restricted funds – donations made with specific caveats as to their use – in order to pay overhead such as executive salaries and promotional expenses.

The lawsuit alleges that AFH "completely disregarded the ‘restricted’ and ‘unrestricted’ nature of the funds and began a wholesale ...

Table-flipping 'Real Housewife' Teresa Giudice and the world of architectural billing

2016-01-05T18:45:00-05:00

An architect who is owed $13,000 by Teresa and Joe Giudice has spoken of his anger at the lavish display of wealth that welcomed the criminal Real Housewife of New Jersey home on the day she got out of prison [...] 'I did plans for modifications to that house and to an addition. I didn't do the final drawings that make it look like a miniature castle. I wouldn't want to put my name to that [...] 'I think our billing was about $13,000 and we've never received a penny of it.'

WASA Studio files for bankruptcy

2015-07-30T13:32:00-04:00

Manhattan’s WASA Studio, one of the country’s oldest architecture and engineering firms ... filed for bankruptcy on Monday while fighting several legal battles with ex-clients. [...] The firm, known for decades as Wank Adams Slavin Associates, is fighting several lawsuits against ex-clients who are pushing for damages of more than $11 million [...] The expensive legal battles came after work slowed.

Architecture for Humanity to file for bankruptcy

2015-02-25T15:30:00-05:00

In a letter to "the countless volunteers, supporters, design fellows, and former staff of Architecture for Humanity", Board Chair Matt Charney announced that the organization will file for bankruptcy this week. AfH closed somewhat abruptly this past January. Charney's letter states:

I thank you for all that you gave to this organization over the past fifteen years.

This week, Architecture for Humanity will file for bankruptcy. While we are saddened by the organization’s closure, the mission of Architecture for Humanity is far from ending. Our affiliated international network of designers and allied professionals have resolved to carry on their work at the local level. Over 30 volunteer chapters on five continents, now self-governed, have recommitted to the mission and are emphatically and collectively forging a new path forward. We are overwhelmed by this response, and could not be more proud of those who volunteer their time and expertise to bring design services to where they are m...

Major NY architecture firm, Swanke Hayden Connell, files for bankruptcy

2015-01-09T13:06:00-05:00

A New York architecture and interior-design firm with roots dating back more than a century has filed for Chapter 11 protection, citing its inability to collect more than $2 million from an assignment in Russia. [...] Over the years, Swanke Hayden has worked on a number of well-known projects in New York and elsewhere, including the Trump Tower, a 1980s facelift of the Statue of Liberty, and the recent rehabilitation of Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green.

A victory for Detroit Institute of Arts

2014-06-04T13:21:00-04:00

The collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is inching closer to safety. The Michigan State Legislature agreed yesterday to contribute $350m over the next 20 years to protect the museum’s works of art and shore up Detroit’s ailing pension funds. The state’s governor Rick Snyder is expected to sign the bill, which is part of a package to help settle the city’s bankruptcy, by the end of the week.

Previously: Detroit Institute of Arts: $330 million pledged to save the city's art collection

Where Are The Heroes To Save Pittsburgh's African-American Center?

2014-02-24T14:07:00-05:00

In 2009 a gleaming performing arts space opened to great fanfare in downtown Pittsburgh. The distinctive is as long as the block it occupies, and the corner of the building looks like the sail of a ship made in glass and stone. The August Wilson Center for African American Culture was meant to be a hub for African-American theater, art and education, named after renowned playwright and native son . Today the Center is for sale, unable to pay its bills.

Detroit Institute of Arts: $330 million pledged to save the city's art collection

2014-01-13T13:35:00-05:00

National and local foundations have pledged more than $330 million to a fund to protect city-owned art at the Detroit Institute of Arts from being auctioned off, mediators in Detroit’s bankruptcy announced Monday. A statement from Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen’s team of mediators called the financial commitments “an extraordinary and unprecedented effort” to preserve the art collection and raise money for Detroit’s underfunded pension funds.

Previously: Detroit’s Venal Art Sale No Fix for Urban Nightmare

Will A Hockey Arena Save Detroit?

2013-08-07T18:09:00-04:00

Despite filing for bankruptcy, Detroit is still on track to get a $450 million hockey arena - partially funded with public money. Host Michel Martin speaks with sportswriter Dave Zirin, who calls the move 'shameless,' and David Muller, a business reporter for the MLive Media Group in Michigan.

[Correction: Official images of the proposed new arena do not exist yet. The 'Old Red Barn' rendering above is an unofficial proposal via the New Olympia Stadium blog.]

Detroit’s Venal Art Sale No Fix for Urban Nightmare

2013-08-07T12:46:00-04:00

When companies go bankrupt, the medicine can be harsh for staff members and the local tax base, yet the effects are temporary. A bankrupt city can’t fire citizens who pay taxes but already receive worse than subsistence services like one-hour police response times. Large cities don’t disappear or die, they just waste into chronic basket cases, like Camden, New Jersey; Gary, Indiana; and East St. Louis, Illinois.

Architect firm eyes insolvency over unpaid Abu Dhabi bills

2011-12-13T13:51:38-05:00

London-based Austin Smith: Lord (ASL) said it is owed £7.85m (AED45.3m) by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage for its work on the Qasr al-Hosn fort in the centre of the city. The 62-year-old design firm last month signed a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) with its creditors in a bid to avoid administration. ASL has made more than 80 staff redundant, including 13 employees from its Abu Dhabi office, which has since closed.

Hour of Power to Power of Cash: Crystal Cathedral bankruptcy sale sparks bidding war

2011-08-11T13:19:20-04:00

I believe with every fiber of my being that God turned the eyes of the world on Crystal Cathedral because God wants to make a big bold statement, he wants the world to know that he is a God who still does miracles

Philip Johnson's masterpiece, the Crystal Cathedral is the subject of bidding wars between Chapman University, Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the retailer Hobby Lobby. Sheila Schuller Coleman, director of ministry at the church and the daughter of Schuller also thinks they can raise the money and keep the church if they can raise $50 million. The Garden Grove campus also includes buildings by Richard Neutra and Richard Meier.

The Crystal Cathedral was parodied in the Simpsons episode "Natural Born Kissers" (towards the end)