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Los Angeles-based Stapleton Group Inc. was named receiver for seven properties at Point Ruston in Tacoma by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh in late June.
Stapleton will replace Lynnwood-based Resource Transition Consultants, which became the court-appointed receiver in May 2023, after lender TerraCotta Real Estate Services sued to collect tens of millions in debt owed on the properties.
The properties are part of a 97-acre mixed-use waterfront development owned by entities associated with Point Ruston developer Loren Cohen and include four commercial/retail structures and three development lots.
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TerraCotta, which is considered the senior creditor of the property portfolio, requested the removal of RTC on June 17. TerraCotta attorney Daniel Hagan alleged in court documents that RTC mismanaged the properties, among other actions, causing more than $750,000 in losses to TerraCotta from loss of rents and accrued interest and penalties.
Attorneys for RTC and the Cohen-related entities disputed the allegations, but TerraCotta’s request for a new receiver won support from two attorneys representing other groups with active cases against the developer.
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El Segundo, California-based TerraCotta sued to recover $72 million it was owed in April 2023. By January 2024, the total grew to $82 million, due to interest and fees.
With RTC’s removal as the receiver, it will no longer be involved in efforts to manage or sell the seven properties. Last year, RTC had been granted permission by the court to sell four of the properties — a retail building and the three development lots, worth around $12.9 million — within a 120-day period that concluded in mid-April. The period lapsed without a sale.
TerraCotta plans to place a credit bid of at least $8.6 million for another one of the seven properties — a retail building known as Building 18 — at a trustee’s sale scheduled for Oct. 18. TerraCotta has indicated it wishes to retain the building, which is currently occupied by several retail businesses, including Farrelli’s Pizza.
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