News alert: B.R. contractor files motion to block Perkins Rowe foreclosure

Baton Rouge-based ThornCo, one of the contractors that helped build Perkins Rowe and has been embroiled in litigation with developer Tommy Spinosa over the project for years, is asking the court to block the foreclosure sale of the mixed-use development by KeyBank National Association. In documents filed this afternoon, attorneys for ThornCo say they’re scheduled to have a hearing on one of their lien appeals against KeyBank on Dec. 3. Assuming KeyBank would be the low bidder at a foreclosure sale, ThornCo’s attorneys say, the bank’s purchase of the property would effectively render ThornCo’s appeal moot. “While ThornCo is not trying to ‘upset’ or delay the foreclosure sale moving forward, it is entitled to have its property rights and its rights to an appeal protected,” the motion says. U.S. District Judge James Brady on Friday granted KeyBank’s request to set foreclosure procedures, which is essentially the first step toward taking back and putting up for bid the mixed-use development it financed several years ago. There is no word on how long the actual foreclosure process will take, but the starting bid price for the development will be $86 million.