Joplin master developer: Cause of bankruptcy was "clerical error"

The reason Joplin master developer David Wallace had one of his firms file for bankruptcy Jan. 1 amounted to little more than a clerical error, he told the Waco Tribune-Herald.

As noted in Saturday's Turner Report, the firm River Square Center Partners, owned by Wallace-Bajjali partners David Wallace and Costa Bajjali, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after defaulting on a $6,527,321.10 debt to Wells Fargo Bank.

Wallace said his company thought it had reached an agreement with LNR Partners, which was negotiating for Wells Fargo.

But the property was posted for foreclosure in December, prompting Wallace Bajjali to make a payment of about $290,000 toward the debt. When it was posted for foreclosure again in January, the partnership filed for bankruptcy protection.“We believe this was little more than a clerical error, and we wanted to get the issue before a judge,” Wallace said in a phone interview.

The River Square Center is described in bankruptcy court documents as "a three-story 92,874-square-foot former warehouse building located at 215 2nd Street & 217 Mary Avenue in Waco, Texas, that has been converted to retail, restaurant, and office space and is currently considered a focal point for night life in downtown Waco." 

The Wallace-Bajjali firm has been hired as the master developer for the tornado-stricken area of the city of Joplin, an $800 million project.