Bankruptcy Watch: Chasen Construction LLC
- Arun Singh
- 2 hours ago
- 1 min read
Chasen Construction LLC, led by Brandon Chasen, grew quickly in Baltimore’s adaptive-reuse market, acquiring older office and warehouse properties for conversion into multifamily housing. In 2022, the firm bought One Calvert Plaza, a 16-story office building for about $11 million, planning to convert it to 173 apartments.
By 2023, revenue reportedly exceeded $70 million, but within two years, liquidity evaporated. Multiple defaults and foreclosures culminated in an involuntary Chapter 11 filing in Maryland, followed by a personal Chapter 7 case for Chasen.
The Real Cause
Several structural weaknesses appear to have converged:
High leverage, short maturities: Projects were financed with large, short-term loans, leaving little cushion as rates rose.
Conversion timing risk: Adaptive-reuse schedules stretched longer than expected, straining interest reserves and cash flow.
Minimal liquidity: Filings showed liabilities of nearly $40 million with limited liquid assets, leaving no buffer for overruns.
Governance gaps: Executive compensation remained high through distress, signaling weak alignment between management and creditors.
Legal and creditor friction: Asset transfers and liens across entities complicated recovery and transparency.
Why the Entity Structure Matters
A stronger entity framework could have softened the fallout:
SPE isolation would have limited contagion among projects.
Independent oversight could have curbed risky transfers and spending.
Covenant triggers might have prompted earlier restructuring action.
A Broader Pattern to Note
Chasen’s downfall echoes a wider strain among post-pandemic adaptive-reuse sponsors: rapid growth financed on short-term, floating-rate debt. Rising costs, delayed entitlements, and tighter credit exposed projects lacking a durable structure or contingency planning.
Final Thought
Vision Without Structure Is Risky.
