U.S. Bank has filed suit against The Reed Family Real Estate Partnership Two associated with developer Tom Reed over a $4.4 million loan the bank says is in default for the Medical Campus at Campbell Station, which houses Vanderbilt medical offices as one of its tenants.
It also sued developer Doug Cutler and the Professional Building at Campbell Station in a separate lawsuit over a $3.1 million loan to the building by the same name, which the bank also says is in default.
The bank's lawyers at Frost Brown Todd in Nashville didn't sue Tom L. Reed Jr. because he has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which grants debtors some protections from lawsuits.
Records show Tom Leon Reed Jr. filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 24 with liabilities of $10 million to $50 million and assets of less than $1 million. Neither he nor his attorney returned phone calls on Tuesday.
The lawsuit is a sign of continued strain on the owners of commercial real estate buildings, particularly in Spring Hill, said Debra Viol, the president and founder of The Stanton Group Inc. in Brentwood, a brokerage and property manager.
"When the economy turned, it turned for the worst in Spring Hill,'' she said. "They got it from all sides, not just the general turn but also from (General Motors)."
General Motors' Spring Hill plant lost 2,000 jobs when production of the Traverse moved to Michigan in late 2009. The company announced last month that it plans to bring 483 jobs back to Spring Hill to make the fuel-efficient Ecotec engines, but those jobs won't materialize for a while or immediately replace all those that were lost.
Viol said that even medical office tenants are hesitant to sign leases because they worry about the economy, too, as well as the impact of health-care reform on their businesses.
Contact real estate reporter Naomi Snyder at 615-259-8284 or
nsnyder@tennessean.com.
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