McStain Enterprises, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in May 2009, has emerged from bankruptcy and is making a play to become the Denver area’s “premier environmentally responsible urban developer.”
McStain co-founders Tom and Caroline Hoyt have joined forces with urban infill developer International Risk Group and a private equity investor to form and fund MC3 Holdings, a residential and mixed-use building venture specializing in environmentally-conscious infill development and redevelopment.
Capitalizing on McStain's well-known name and trademark, the operating entity for the new venture will be known as McStain Constructors, and will do business as McStain Neighborhood Builders.
“The partners of this new venture believe that combining the ability to clean up underutilized infill sites with leading-edge community planning and green building will create the most environmentally responsible neighborhoods possible for our ultimate users and occupants,” the company stated in an announcement. “This new team has the capability to work with existing neighborhoods to replace existing uses that depreciate the values and livability of the community with new projects that are a catalyst for the neighborhood’s revitalization.”
To kick-start its efforts, the new entity has purchased the existing Indian Peaks South neighborhood (originally built by McStain) in Lafayette, Colo., and will assume operations of several ongoing projects--the goal being to complete the built-out of neighborhoods that are already recognized as strong locations and emblems of the McStain brand. The company will also work to secure additional parcels in high-demand urban and suburban locations that are in need of environmental improvements and neighborhood revitalization.
International Risk Group, which acquires and repositions brownfield sites across the United States, is known in the Denver market for its significant role in the redevelopment of Stapleton International Airport and Lowry Air Force Base. The company also recently remediated and sold a 35-acre infill site to city and county of Denver.
McStain Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 protection in March 2009, with assets listed at $28.8 million and debt of $47.3 million. At that time, its largest unsecured creditors included Scheer's Inc. of Westmont, Ill.; KeyBank of Salt Lake City; CRE400 Centennial LLC-Crestone in Denver; Boulder-based William and Associates; and its former CEO, Eric Wittenberg, who voluntarily resigned his position with the company in September 2008 in an effort to cut costs.
The bankruptcy case was dismissed in December 2009 by a Colorado bankruptcy court judge with the requirement that the builder would continue to keep its creditors apprised of its financial status on a monthly basis.
Founded by Tom and Caroline Hoyt in 1966, McStain was among the first home builders in Colorado to embrace sustainable building practices and is known as the master-planner of communities such as Indian Peaks in Lafayette, and MeadowView in Longmont. The company also built homes and neighborhoods in several large scale infill redevelopment projects, including Lowry and Stapleton in Denver, and Belmar in Lakewood.
Jenny Sullivan is a senior editor for BUILDER.
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Denver, CO, Boulder, CO, Salt Lake City, UT.
