Prominent Massachusetts Real Estate Developer Files for Bankruptcy

Prominent Massachusetts Real Estate Developer Files for Bankruptcy

On Oct. 24, following a failed effort to develop a golf community in Ipswich, Massachusetts, real estate developer Ted Raymond filed for bankruptcy protection.

Citing more than $46 million in debt in his official bankruptcy filings, Raymond revealed his substantial debts arose from his attempts to develop a golf course and residences at Turner Hill, the Boston Globe reported.

Creditors – including James Cavanaugh, John Littlechild, and Charles Reed – have argued that the Chapter 11 filing was part of a strategic effort on Raymond’s part to prevent them from recovering funds lost in the project.

“When Raymond realized the extent of his financial problems, he began actively concealing, liquidating and transferring his assets so as to shield [them] from creditors,” the creditors wrote in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston, according to the news source.

Additionally, the creditors allege that Raymond maintained a “lavish lifestyle” on his estate in Ipswich, all the while refusing to honor outstanding debts stemming from the Turner Hill development.

“I’ve been working tirelessly for more than five years to generate additional opportunities to make up for those losses,” wrote Raymond in the statement. “Unfortunately, a small minority of my investors have refused to cooperate in reasonable efforts to treat all creditors fairly and equitably in an out-of-court arrangement.”

Raymond is seeking individual protection under bankruptcy law. His real estate firm, Raymond Property Co., is not part of the case.

Prominent projects undertaken by Raymond in the past include Flagship Wharf, located in the Charlestown Navy Yard, as well as Trinity Place in Boston, Mass., the news source reported.

Recently, Raymond’s real estate firm partnered with Sagebrook Development LLC to begin work on a five-story apartment building, to be located near the Malden Center Commuter Rail Station, the Boston Business Journal reported.