Martha’s Vineyard, Shelbyville properties up for sale – Foreclosures in ongoing Nearest Green saga
Duane Sherrill – Regional Editor
The receiver in the Nearest Green suit has asked the federal judge to allow the sale of the Martha’s Vineyard property for $2.595 million with the proceeds to help pay down the company’s indebtedness.
The request comes as the receiver and the owners of Nearest Green are locked in a contiguous court battle after Nearest Green was put into receivership for being behind in the repayment of over $100 million owed to its creditor. The receiver now wants to put more of what he believes are associated businesses under the receivership umbrella while the Weavers want to be released from receivership, claiming it is hurting their business.
The property in question at Martha’s Vineyard is located at 10 Codman Spring Road in Edgartown, Massachusetts. It is under reportedly contract at the full asking price, with two backup offers in place. The receiver revealed that closing is scheduled for March 19 and that delay could jeopardize the sale. Proceeds would first got to a $1.5 million primary lien, with remaining funds directed toward secured lender Farm Credit Mid-America, which supports the sale. The Weavers are against the sale.
The possibility of a sale comes as the receiver maintains that Uncle Nearest and some affiliated entities have operated so closely that they should be treated as a single enterprise, thereby warranting them being placed under the receiver’s influence. In making the claim, the receiver pointed to intercompany transfers and a $20 million convertible note transaction as part of that argument.
Uncle Nearest CEO Fawn Weaver is debating the receiver’s characterization of recent transactions. In recent filings, she denied benefiting from the $20 million transaction and maintained proceeds were used for payroll and vendor payments during negotiations with Farm Credit. She says the receiver knows about this.
In the end, if the judge agrees with the receiver’s argument that affiliated entities functioned as a single enterprise, the scope of the receivership could expand to include additional assets. If the court decides in favor of the Weavers, oversight would likely remain limited to the original entities named in the case.
Meanwhile, on a more local level, pieces of property held by Keith Edward Weaver and Shelbyville Grand LLC are the subject of sales plans with an auction slated for March 20 at 10 a.m. at the front door of the Bedford County Courthouse. As spelled out in the classified section the Bedford County Post, Feb. 26 edition on page 9A of the publication, the tracts for auction include that of Highway 2131 North Shelbyville (located next to Nearest Green), 323 East Depot Street in Shelbyville (former site of the Shelbyville Times Gazette office), and 100 N. Side Square on Main Street in Shelbyville.
Sales of the Shelbyville property will go to pay indebtedness to First Bank.