July 6, 2018 • Local News
El Paso Times: William Abraham, Juan Gabriel's son object to proposed property sales in bankruptcy cases
William "Billy" Abraham has filed an objection to selling two of his properties to pay off creditors in his two bankruptcy cases because he claims he has better offers.
Objections to selling the same two properties and to accepting a ground lease for a possible hotel in one of Abraham's Downtown buildings also have been filed by an El Paso lawyer on behalf of the son of the late singer Juan Gabriel in a contract dispute with Abraham.
The lawyer, Harrel Davis, also represents a joint venture between El Paso businessmen Paul Foster and Miguel Fernandez that late last week made a $10.4 million purchase offer for 20 of Abraham's properties tied up in bankruptcy court.
Abraham and Franklin Acquisitions, his real estate investment company, own 27 properties, including 15 mostly vacant, mostly dilapidated Downtown buildings. Many of those buildings are historic, with an estimated value of $36 million, according to Abraham's amended financial statements filed in bankruptcy court.
Abraham and his company have debts estimated at $9.3 million.
Abraham's lawyer on June 28 filed an objection to selling a vacant, two-story house at 1701 N. Stanton St., in West Central El Paso, and a small shopping center at 8820 Alameda Ave., to El Paso businessman Don Luciano.
Abraham negotiating before bankruptcies
Abraham has received better offers for the two properties from the Ysleta Grant Joint Venture, which Abraham had been negotiating with prior to filing Chapter 11 bankruptcies Feb. 6 for himself and Franklin Acquisitions, according to Abraham's objection filed June 28.
The Ysleta venture has agreed to pay $1.5 million for the small, run-down shopping center on Alameda, and $250,000 for the dilapidated house on Stanton, the objection states.
Luciano's contracts to buy the house for $151,000, and the shopping center for $965,000, have been accepted by the Chapter 11 trustee handling the Abraham cases and are awaiting a July 24 court hearing at which U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Mott is to decide whether to accept the offers.
The house is valued for tax purposes at almost $128,000 and the shopping center is valued at $1.5 million by the El Paso Central Appraisal District.
Luciano owns Trade in Cars, a wholesaler of vintage and other specialty vehicles, and owns various properties in El Paso.
No information was available on the Ysleta Grant Joint Venture, which is not listed in company filings on the Texas Secretary of State website.
Abraham was not immediately available for comments about the various offers.
$10.4M offer best for creditors, lawyer argues
Davis, a lawyer with Gordon Davis Johnson & Shane, filed his objections July 3 on behalf of Ivan Aguilera, the son of late Mexican singer Juan Gabriel, and his Florida company, IGSFA Management. They have $1.3 million in court judgments against Abraham tied to a contract dispute for a 2015 Juan Gabriel concert in El Paso.
The trustee's motions to approve the two sales offers and the building ground lease must be withdrawn because the $10.4 million offer made by the Downtown Renaissance Joint Venture is a better offer for those properties, and "a better offer for the creditors in the estate" because it would pay "all allowed creditors in full," according to the objections.
It's the job of the Chapter 11 trustee, Ronald Ingalls, a Fredricksburg, Texas lawyer, to determine which Abraham properties might need to be sold to pay off Abraham's and Franklin Acquisition's debts estimated at $9.3 million.
July 24 court hearing on property offers
Stephen Sather, an Austin lawyer representing Ingalls in Abraham's bankruptcy proceedings, said in an email Tuesday that Ingalls had not yet decided what to do with the joint venture's offer.
Ingalls in an email Monday, said he found out about the Ysleta venture offers only after Abraham's objection was filed last week.
"I have not yet seen the contracts, though we have requested copies. At this point, I do not see why the highest offer will not be approved. I don’t expect the highest offer until the (July 24) hearing."
A July 24 hearing also is slated to be held on whether Judge Mott should accept the proposed ground lease for the building at 105 N. Oregon.
Developer's integrity questioned
The proposed lease would be with a company headed by El Paso developer Jose Gonzalez, who has a proposal to put a TRYP by Wyndham hotel there.
Davis in an objection filed in May, argued that the ground lease should not be approved because, the objection claimed, Gonzalez is “less than a savory character" who cannot perform on the lease.
Gonzalez moved back to his hometown of El Paso from Houston where he had a string of lawsuits filed against him and several of his companies, alleging breach of contracts or fraud in real estate deals, and a failed oil-lease deal.
Gonzalez announced plans last year for two major retail developments in El Paso, which were to have large Cinergy Entertainment Group cinema/game complexes.
However, at least one of those projects, planned for vacant land at Interstate 10 and Trans Mountain Road, has collapsed, according to lawsuits filed in May against one of Gonzalez's companies, Transmountain Partners. The other proposed project on farmland at I-10 and Americas Ave., has not moved forward.
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