Tepper-led GT Real Estate's bankruptcy plan to be approved, a key action in case tied to failed Panthers HQ

The Chapter 11 case for David Tepper -led GT Real Estate Holdings LLC reached a milestone today as the court expressed its intention to confirm the entity's bankruptcy plan. The confirmation is a critical event in the months-long bankruptcy court battle stemming from the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters project in Rock Hill. By the time the hearing took place, the plan was contested by just one party after significant progress was made in recent weeks to reach settlement agreements with York County and the city of Rock Hill. Trustee, which is part of the U.S. Justice Department and monitors bankruptcy cases, was the only party in opposition. The objection was tied to releases and a channeling injunction in the bankruptcy plan, an attorney for the U.S. Trustee said yesterday. Owens said yesterday that language in the release represented a problematic drafting of the plan. They returned this afternoon via videoconference after talks to tweak the plan. Owens said today that some 'additional wordsmithing' was needed on the release language in the plan. An attorney for GT Real Estate said those tweaks would be made today and once those are submitted, Owens said she intended to approve the confirmation of the plan. 'We are at the finish line.' York County is slated to receive $21.165 million under its settlement agreement with GT Real Estate, court filings show. Owens approved the settlement with the county yesterday and the settlement agreement with the city was approved last week, filings show. Court filings also show draft deeds for the project site, which is more than 240 acres, in which the grantee is the city of Rock Hill. Initial filings for the city settlement stated the value of the settlement was $20 million. Under that proposal, the county would've received $21.165 million, and $20 million or more from the sale of the project site was allocated for the city of Rock Hill. In September, GT Real Estate filed an amended Chapter 11 plan that removed the county and city as primary creditors after disputes between the parties. The settlement agreements appear to include payouts similar to the August proposal. Mascaro/Barton Malow, the Panthers headquarters project's general contractor, has supported the bankruptcy plan for months. Michael Roeschenthaler, who is representing Mascaro/Barton Malow and is a partner with Whiteford Taylor Preston, spoke in support of the plan yesterday and said its confirmation was critical in 'averting irreparable harm' to smaller creditors in the case. The filing came after the project was paused on March 7 due to disputes between GT Real Estate and the city over unissued infrastructure bonds. Construction on the project had begun in 2020 and was paused before it could reached its targeted completion in 2023. Upon announcement of the project in 2019, some expected the overall development to draw as much as $2 billion in total investment to the Rock Hill site. The property has since been put on the market.