The Carolina Panthers' proposed $800 million practice facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina, will not see fruition after team owner David Tupper's real estate company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware this week.
According to The Associated Press, Tepper is the NFL's wealthiest owner, and the filing won't affect the operation of the NFL's panthers or the Major League Soccer's Charolette FC in any way.
It's unclear what will happen to the half-built practice facility.
Tepper has invested $175 million in the facility, which sits 25 miles away from the Panthers' downtown stadium and headquarters.
GT Real Estate Holdings, LLC, a Deleware limited liability company, released a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday saying that a court-led financial restructuring had begun.
“In recent weeks, GTRE has been confronted with various claims, some valid and some not, from vendors, contractors and other third parties, including York County, SC,” GT Real Estate Holdings said in a statement. “GTRE is taking this action to ensure legitimate claims are processed as fairly and expeditiously as possible under a court supervised process, and to achieve the project’s orderly and safe wind-down. GTRE intends to resolve its legitimate obligations.”
GTRE has received a commitment of $20 million in financing from DT Sports Holding, LLC, while will allow the company to fund a process to address it legitimate creditor claims and to protect the Rock Hill site for the benefit of all stakeholders.
The Panthers announced on April 19 they had terminated their agreement with the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The Chapter 11 filing ends an ongoing feud between Tepper and the City of Rock Hill. Tepper contended that GTRE had been negotiating with the Rock Hill for more than a year to no avail, while Rock Hill claimed Tepper had not be constructive in the process.
“It was and remains our intention to continue negotiating in good faith while protecting the interests of our taxpayers,” the City of Rock Hill had said. “In fact, in the past few weeks we have attempted to meet with the Panthers on numerous occasions to no avail.”
The Panthers’ headquarters and practice facility had been expected to be completed in 2023.
