Chandler Anderson, a developer who invests his efforts into improving downtown rather than building on the city’s edges, declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
In the initial filing, turned in Oct. 31, Anderson didn’t list assets or debts, other than to check off that he has assets between $500,001 and $1 million and debts of $1,000,001 to $10 million.
Anderson, who also sits on the Rockford Housing Authority board of commissioners, has renovated dozens of downtown and midtown homes since 1992. His last project was his most ambitious. Anderson, along with Joseph Morriessey, father of Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, was behind the redevelopment of Garrison School into the Garrison Lofts & Townhomes at 1105 N. Court St.
Anderson is just the latest developer to run into financial issues in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Already this year, foreclosure suits have been filed against such noted developers as Rubloff Development, Kurt Carlson, Jan Mansfield, Summit LLC, Steven Murphy and Florian Guski.
But Anderson though said the bankruptcy is unrelated to his recent development projects and he no longer has financial ties to the Garrison Lofts. He said he was forced into bankruptcy by a series of bad business decisions he made in the 1990s when he was first starting out.
The fact that the real estate market plummeted so rapidly didn’t help things. Still, he plans to continue to look for downtown homes and buildings to restore to their former glory.
“I plan to continue to do what I do because people seem to like it,” Anderson said.
Do any of the local “investors” and developers actually own anything; it seems all these businesses and ventures are fully mortgaged and indebted.