George Washington Bridge seeks approval of bid procedures for assets

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., March 25 – George Washington Bridge Bus Station Development Venture, LLC is seeking court approval of the bid procedures for substantially all of its assets, according to a motion filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The debtor had previously received court approval of bid procedures for the assets in December 2019, but litigation with Tutor Perini Building Corp., the former general contractor for the renovation of the bus station, led to delays in the sale process to March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

The company said that bidders dropped out of the process or reduced their indications of interests, and several of the debtors’ tenants stopped paying rent.

“In light of the impact of the pandemic on the New York real estate market and the erosion of interest in, and value of, the debtor's assets, the debtor placed its marketing process on hold to allow the market to bounce back, to work with tenants to address their concerns and respective situations, and to allow value to recover,” the company said.

The company has selected Monarch Alternative Capital LP to serve as stalking horse bidder, subject to court approval. Monarch has offered to purchase the assets for at least $92 million.

The debtor said the stalking horse agreement provides significant benefits, including the continuation of the debtor's business as a going concern, the provision to the debtor of cash proceeds sufficient to repay the debtor's outstanding obligations under its $18 million debtor-in-possession facility and satisfy all costs necessary to emerge from Chapter 11, and the assumption of $72 million of the debtor's pre-petition secured debt on amended terms that have been substantially negotiated with and agreed to by the pre-petition senior secured lender.

If the debtor's sale process generates an all cash bid of at least $50 million, then the debtor will have the right to pursue that alternative bid, provided that Monarch’s deposit will be returned, and the company will pay a $400,00 expense reimbursement and $600,000 break-up fee.

Under the proposed bid procedures, bids would be due by 4 p.m. ET on April 20.

George Washington Bridge Bus Station Development Venture is a Reston, Va.-based development company. The company filed bankruptcy on Oct. 7, 2019 under Chapter 11 case number 19-13196.

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