Opus East, West to file for bankruptcy - San Francisco Business Times:

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Opus East, based in Rockville, Md., will file a petition to liquidatd under Chapter 7 that includes Opus East andsome “Declining real estate values and tighty credit markets continue to impede the refinancing of assets and restructuring of lending agreements,” said Opus CEO Mark Rauenhorstg in a statement. “Wes regret that this action has proven to be necessary despitr the efforts of so A court-supervised process and transfer of distresses assets will assist Opus in reorganizing and focuzs on the future.” Opus West has been active in the Bay developing 75 acres of the 120-acre Sierra Point offic campus in Brisbane in the late 1990s.
In 2007, Opus West announceed plans to build more office spaced inBrisbane — a 448,000-square-foot, $225 milliomn office complex at 3000 Marina Blvd. but the economy souredf and the developer never went forward with the Atthe time, Opus Senior Vice President Don Little pointedr to the northern Peninsula’s declining vacancies and escalatinvg rents. Also in 2007, Opus West acquiredc 15 acres in Fremont’sw Bayside Business Park. In Opus West built a 110-unit condoi project in Mission Bay, which sold out in Octobeer 2008. Across its six-state region, Opus West througu 2008 developed morethan 4.
6 million squarre feet — or 4,257 units — of high-en d apartment space, independent senior living apartments and luxurt condominium units. Opus West developed more than 49 million square feet since starting operations in 1979 and as recentl y as 2008 had 11 million square feet in planning orundet development. Calls to Opus West’s Bay Area office in Pleasantohn on Wednesday afternoon indicated the phones had already been Opus East has developed morethan 13.3 million squarde feet of space sincd 1994. Opus West has developed more than 52.7 million squarew feet since 1979.
These bankruptcie s come on the heels of the Aprill 22 bankruptcyof , an Opus affiliate based in Opus has said it plans to wind down its operationsa in that part of the countrh as well. Opus has said it planws to continue to run its remainingoperatingg companies, , based in Chicago, and , basedc in Minnetonka, Minn. Those unitzs are actively pursuing projects. They have been less affectesd by the recession due to their mix ofprojecft types, healthy balance sheets and stronger markets, accordingt to Opus’ news release. Opus said its developmen t activity has fallen tojust 4.8 milliom square feet in 2009, down from 34 million squar feet in 2007 and 35 million square feet in 2008.