After the development of a new Carolina Panthers headquarters and training facility was officially in June 2022, a dispute has grown between the developing company, GT Real Estate, and joint venture contractor Mascaro/Barton Malow, which that it is owed $80 million as part of the case.
However, the claim isn鈥檛 that GT Real Estate (GTRE) 鈥� which filed for bankruptcy in June 鈥� should be responsible for paying: It鈥檚 that the Carolina Panthers could be.
David Tepper and GT Real Estate broke their agreement to build a new facility for the Carolina Panthers in Rock Hill, South Carolina in April 2022 after they had originally paused the $800 million project the previous month. This was followed by GT Real Estate filing for bankruptcy just a few months later in June.
However, there鈥檚 some concern from the involved parties that, allegedly, the bankruptcy is a way of removing the financial connection between the project and the Panthers organization 鈥� and potentially getting Tepper out of paying the full amount of his financial obligations to contractors.聽Mascaro/Barton Malow is far from the only construction business who is still seeking payment on work completed on the Rock Hill facility.
鈥淰irtually every aspect of this case is tainted by the control of [team owner David] Tepper and the Carolina Panthers,鈥� lawyers for Mascaro/Barton Malow in a motion opposing a proposed loan to GT Real Estate from a Tepper-controlled entity. Lawyer Michael Roeschenthaler added that 鈥淭his is one of the most incestuous cases I鈥檝e ever been involved with or heard of.鈥�
The motion added the claim that there is a 鈥渕urky and suspicious structure that is the Debtor/Tepper/Carolina Panthers enterprise,鈥� maintaining that the team may allegedly be skirting financial obligations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a matter of us not getting paid. It affects companies and families.鈥�
鈥� Luke Blythe, Vice President of operations, Blythe Development
The project鈥檚 cancelation already had enough of a negative impact on contractors before this dispute began, with Glenn Sherill, owner of project subcontractor SteelFab, that the project was already becoming a 鈥渇inancial loser鈥� for the company.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to quantify what this did to our company but the disruption is significant,鈥� Sherill added. Bankruptcy records note that the company claims it is owed $4.6 million for work already done.
Project contractors are seeing the dispute as an example of Tepper鈥檚 鈥渦nwillingness to pay his bills,鈥� as Sherill said, and they鈥檙e careful to note that GT Real Estate鈥檚 nonpayment has a big impact on their maintaining profitability. 鈥淚t definitely flows down a long way,鈥� Blythe Development Vice President of Operations Luke Blythe, whose company is reportedly owed $2.6 million. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a matter of us not getting paid. It affects companies and families.鈥�
Bankruptcy attorney Zev Schectman that Tepper鈥檚 move publicly projects an image that may concern the NFL: 鈥淚n the vein of, you know, Donald Trump and (Frank) McCourt, who filed and put the Dodgers into bankruptcy and various other billionaires, putting their companies in bankruptcy, this is just something that they get to do without having to experience any personal repercussions if they do it right.鈥�
In June 2022, the NFL noted that it didn鈥檛 expect any problems with the legal status of the project. 鈥淕TRE is not part of the club鈥檚 corporate ownership group,鈥� an NFL spokesperson at the time. 鈥淕TRE does not own any football-related assets, nor have any football-related assets been pledged in any way toward the costs incurred to date or any remaining obligations.鈥�
As points out, this is a difficult position for Mascaro/Barton Malow to be in, as the NFL has a number of financial rules in place that work to keep teams from getting caught up in these types of disputes. If the contractor鈥檚 claims are verified, it could have a big impact on the security of their payment given GT Real Estate鈥檚 bankruptcy filing.
The future of the former Rock Hill project may be truly going nowhere regardless of what happens with this dispute. A filing from GT Real Estate chief restructuring officer Jonathan Hickman that the company 鈥渉as begun to consider various alternatives for a value-maximizing transaction, including a potential sale … [and] the redevelopment of the project site.鈥�
Regardless of exactly how the situation plays out, the project鈥檚 contractors are simply hoping that they get paid soon 鈥� regardless of which Tepper-controlled entity is writing the checks.
鈥淚 never dreamed there could be a chance of [Tepper] shutting the job down and then not paying us,鈥� Sherrill said. 鈥淧aying his bills is not a problem if he wanted to do the right thing.鈥�
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