It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for controversial developer Thomas McFeely. On Friday 13th January, he was declared bankrupt in the UK; on 16th January, a bankruptcy hearing in Dublin against the developer was adjourned to April; on 19th January, the residents of Priory Hall who were forcibly evacuated from a Thomas McFeely-built development in October 2011 were given a temporary reprieve on their ongoing alternative accommodation costs which Dublin City Council is seeking to disown, when the Supreme Court adjourned a hearing until February. Next week, Thomas faces jail in a Dublin court. And yesterday, the BBC reported that administrators in Northern Ireland had been appointed to a Thomas McFeely-linked company, Inis Developments. NAMA is behind that appointment. The BBC reported yesterday “A note in the accounts said the firm was continuing to develop a site at Stratford in east London. However this development is understood to have been repossessed by the Irish government’s National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) in November” NAMA has declined to comment on the fact that Thomas McFeely gave his address in his UK bankruptcy as “Flat 44, Athena Court, 186 High Street, LONDON, United Kingdom, E15 2FD”. The Irish Independent reported at the start of November 2011 that NAMA had appointed receivers toAthena Court which is on High Street,Stratford, east London. A NAMA spokesman declined to comment on the McFeely UK bankruptcy but it is the Agency’s position that in any situation involving a debtor NAMA will review all its legal options to help maximise the amount of money recovered for the taxpayer.
There is no apparent mention of Thomas McFeely’s home on Ailesbury Road in Dublin in the UK bankruptcy application, in the sense that it is not shown as an address on the Insolvency Service records. In the recent UK bankruptcy case of the Grehan brothers, alternative Irish addresses were shown for the two developers. Although NAMA has not acquired loans in respect of Priory Hall, thereby avoiding that hot potato, yesterday’s news of appointment of administrators confirms that NAMA is a Thomas McFeely creditor. Will the Agency seek to annul the London bankruptcy of Thomas McFeely in the same way that Anglo had Sean Quinn’s bankruptcy annulled in Northern Ireland? Who can say, the Agency is not commenting.
Separately, and although it is not yet showing on the official state publication, Iris Oifigiuil, it is being reported in the Irish Independent today that NAMA has appointed property receivers, HWBC Allsop, to assets owned by Michael Whelan’s Moritz Group. Although it is reported that a number of assets are not subject to NAMA’s receivers, the only asset mentioned in the report is the Galway Gateway Shopping Centre. This comes one day after it was reported that Ulster Bank had appointed property receivers Grant Thornton to “hundreds of homes” owned by Maplewood Developments, a key company in the Moritz Group.
Remember you can see a comprehensive list of Irish foreclosure actions by NAMA here and in this regularly updated spreadsheet.
NAMA Wine Lake 
The rumour was three receiverships. Who’s the third?
Ramping it up,will the new BK laws be retrospective !
Or would that be unconstitutional like UORR!
So, with all these receiverships and resignations, is Nama really winding down?
@OMF not at all,just at a crossroads.Asset management or sell loans at a discount.Treasury is trying to argue that they are ‘cheaper’ that has to be the most ironic statement ever,did they keep a straight face saying it.
In receivership next week,unless ‘mysterious’ benefactors appear.
@jg, I hope Johnny’s a good poker player….
He can be as good as Doyle Brunson,not much use if you have no chips.
If I get time later will throw up the fee arrangements between REO and Treasury,Dunner done a runner,would he count making up the holy trinity this week.
@jg, Good points (both). You don’t have to be a seer to know where all this is going. One thing I noticed in the US is the value available in housing from the foreclosure market compared to what’s available in Ireland. 4,000 sq ft plus for $300,000! Although that value doesn’t run to Manhattan hotel rooms – have you a spare bedroom? :-) Still, fill it with 15 illegal aliens for $5k per month and you have a nice return.
@WSTT lots of room,big snowfall last night,off sledging with the kids,no ice skating today.
Yes,great buys in sunbelt state,also govt. guarantees mortgages,noticed NAMA still dithering around with some resi. put option.The uptake in the current govt. mortgage product,embarrassing,12 loans or something!
@jg, NAMA is rejecting (really ignoring) approaches on portfolios from anyone asking for staple finance on the basis “if they are looking for finance, then they haven’t got the money to buy and aren’t worth talking to.” This from the clowns that wanted the world to know that they were providing staple finance.
@WSTT who cares what there basis is,telling everyone no fire sales….sure no problem,we take our capital elsewhere.
RBS had to finance this.
“Royal Bank of Scotland and Blackstone have finally closed the £1.36bn Project Isobel property loan deal, backed by £550m in stapled debt”
http://costarfinance.wordpress.com/tag/project-isobel/
Regarding above post,probably blows up Noel’s appeal.Not looking too good these days for Mr.Smyth.
“Along with his business partner Liam O’Mahony and developer Liam Carroll, he was sued for €130 million in damages by solicitor Noel Smyth over a land deal involving Tallaght Square. The case ran for 63 days. In June 2010, Mr Justice Brian McGovern dismissed Smyth’s claims but said none of the parties involved emerged “with much credit for the manner in which they conducted their business dealings with each other”.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1018/1224305994458.html
@jg, Here you go, John. From the Sunday Times today. It could be the first of the Irish portfolio sales:
Hines, the global real estate giant, is in detailed negotiations with the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) to take over Treasury Holdings’ €900m in outstanding loans.
Hines is one of the biggest privately owned property companies in the world, controlling assets valued at $23.4 billion (€18 billion).
With operations in 18 countries, it opened an office in Dublin last year to take advantage of potential opportunities arising from restructuring of the banking and property markets.
Hines is vying for the Treasury assets with Macquarie, the Australian investment bank. If Nama does a deal on the Treasury assets, it would be its biggest so far, so price will be a key factor.
Nama and Treasury, which is one of its 10 biggest borrowers, have been in intense discussions for the past week, after the agency pulled back at the brink of appointing receivers to Treasury’s property empire.
Both Richard Barrett and John Ronan, Treasury co-founders, returned from China in the past fortnight to do battle. It is unclear what role either would play if deals are done with Macquarie or Hines. Treasury had argued with Nama that it would be best placed to extract value from the properties by continuing to play a management role.
This Wednesday is the theoretical deadline to close a deal, but that is likely to be extended if negotiations are well advanced.
The Nama loans relate both to Treasury’s interests in Ireland and to Real Estate Opportunities, the UK-listed company it controls. Treasury lost control last month of Battersea power station in London, when Nama and Lloyds Banking Group appointed Ernst & Young as administrators.
Treasury’s Nama loans relate to properties that include the Convention Centre in Dublin, whose cost is being repaid by a taxpayer subvention, and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Co Wicklow. Treasury also owns about 20 Irish properties outside the agency.
@WSTT
Any word on what role Ronan Will play going forward,Doubt he will be retained.Clean out of Senior Management.
Any Comments On O Flynn Article in todays Times.
@Partick,IT Saturday ?
The above I think is Sunday Times,not in international edition.But it’s just another romour/nonsense to get extra time.There are no sources for the article,it was flotated out there last week that two groups were in talks.
But the buyers would have no use for existing senior management,all indications are they are talking to NAMA.
@patrick, I agree with John. It is unlikely that a new purchaser would retain the existing management. If they do their due diligence well enough they won’t need Johnny. Although I did hear that earlier interest was rejected because not enough of the equity was being left with the existing management. However, times have moved on and the situation has not improved. They would be unlikely to receive the previous generous offer again.
In relation to Michael O’Flynn’s interview,he makes one statement that I agree with fully. We will have a recovery in the property market when we have liquidity, and not before. No liquidity – no recovery in the domestic economy in general or in the property market in particular.
@WSTT, the Treasury/NAMA stand-off really does look like a game of chicken and I see that the NAMA spokesman, Ray Gordon from Gordon MRM has departed from usual practice and commented on an individual case
““A standstill agreement” on NAMA’s demands for Treasury Holdings to repay loans “is due to expire this week,” Ray Gordon, a NAMA spokesman, told Bloomberg News today. “NAMA is evaluating proposals from two parties.” He declined to comment further.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-22/hines-macquarie-vie-to-buy-treasury-holdings-loans-times-says.html
Unlike David Daly and Durkan who reportedly refinanced their loans from NAMA 100%, Treasury might not be that “special purchaser” and has more than enough in the fire-walled China operation to occupy the talents and vanities of the Dynamic Duo. I think NAMA can probably go swing for a 100% financing on properties that might be worth 30-50% of their loans. But that doesn’t stop the game of chicken.