Meruelo Maddux Chapter 11

The big downtown developer filed today, as had been pretty much expected (the company stopped making payments on loans totaling $266 million). Excluded from the filing is the company's 35-story 717 W. Ninth Street residential tower project currently under construction. No disruption to tenants, according to a release filed this afternoon.

"The company worked with diligence to avoid a reorganization filing," said Richard Meruelo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meruelo Maddux Properties. "Despite our best efforts and careful consideration of all other alternatives, the filing became necessary given the challenging economic climate. Now, our goal is to implement a comprehensive reorganization and continue to seek additional outside financing which we believe will allow us to move forward."

Don't be surprised if more downtown developers get squeezed by loan commitments they can no longer afford. Here's some backstory from Curbed L.A.