Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 7, 1992 TAG: 9201070130
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Medium
DEVELOPER SAYS HE'LL SELL OFF PROPERTY
Montgomery County real estate developer William B. Matthews told a Bankruptcy Court creditors' meeting in Roanoke on Monday that he will sell his property to meet his debts of $7.6 million.Matthews and his wife, Helen, estimated their assets at $7.3 million, about $300,000 less than their liabilities, after they filed for reorganization last month.
"I will place everything I own up for sale, with the anticipation of paying back with whatever sells first and getting it into a manageable limit," Matthews told his creditors.
He listed 20 pieces of property in his court papers including some in Blacksburg and Hilton Head, S.C.; Patrick County mountain land; and a lot at Smith Mountain Lake.
As a result of a depressed real estate market, Matthews said, "I was spread out in four subdivisions [and] the lenders' marketing scheme wouldn't work. . . . Everybody quit buying in August a year ago."
Interest rates and the effects of the overbuilt "kiddie condo" market for Virginia Tech students also had an impact on real estate, Matthews told James Cosby of the U.S. trustee's office at the creditors' meeting.
His bankruptcy filing on Dec. 6 came minutes before the First National Bank of Christiansburg was to hold a foreclosure sale of 7.4 acres in the Shenandoah I subdivision in Blacksburg.
Matthews, a former star basketball player and coach at Virginia Tech, was a prominent figure in a controversial swap of farm land along New River for prime commercial property on U.S. 460. He also had a role in developing Market Place shopping center and the Kmart store under construction in Christiansburg.
Carter "Chip" Magee, a creditor's attorney, called Matthews' proposal "a liquidation."
Among Matthews' major creditors, according to court papers, are: First National Bank of Christiansburg, $2.7 million; New England Life, $1.1 million; National Bank of Blacksburg, $580,000; Jay D. Nicewonder, Clintwood, $378,000; Sovran Bank, $308,760; and George M. Harvey, Radford, $300,000.
The papers said his property includes an interest in Radford apartments, a Blacksburg commercial building and Narrows apartments; full ownership of Shenandoah Townhouses and a number of tracts in Blacksburg and Montgomery County; and houses in Henry County and in Westfield, N.C.
Matthews said he owns 8.33 percent of Whitethorne Inc., a 160-acre commercial tract in Montgomery County. He listed a dozen cars and trucks and three trailers valued about $73,000.
In his statement of financial affairs, Matthews said his income from land sales was about $925,000 in each of the last two years and $492,800 in 1989.
He told the creditors he will earn a commission of 6 to 10 percent on the property that he sells to pay his debts.
Matthews said he expects to make payments to his secured creditors, but he may need to renegotiate in some cases. He said he sold two tracts in December and has contracts to sell two more. They are bringing enough to satisfy the debt, he added.