May 13th, 2010 by Reed Allmand 
David S. Bagwell, a controversial real estate developer in northeast Tarrant County, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy for three partnerships that control luxury subdivisions in Colleyville.
Bagwell filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy for partnerships that controlled development in Broughton, Whittier Heights and Old Grove – unfinished neighborhoods where million-dollar homes and vacant lots sit next to one another. Chapter 7 bankruptcy puts liquidation of the partnerships’ assets in the hands of a federal judge. Those assets include 26 lots in Broughton, 49 lots in Old Grove and 36 lots in Whittier Heights. In the case of each partnership, Bagwell estimated the number of creditors at one to 49. He listed the value of each partnership’s assets at $1 million to $10 million.
Bagwell had been viewed as a somewhat controversial figure in Colleyville because of the way he kept tight controls on HOAs in his unfinished subdivisions. Before filing for bankruptcy, Bagwell was know by some as the “Johnny Appleseed” of home developers because he have new homeowners the option to plant as many trees in their yards as they wanted while he absorbed the costs associated with planting them. But there were at least an equal number of residents in the affluent community who viewed the now bankrupt developer as a “tyrant” who operated in arbitrary and capricious ways that made it impossible to follow HOA rules, allegations which Bagwell has denied. A group of homeowners even filed a lawsuit against Bagwell before the developer filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It is not currently clear how the bankruptcy will directly impact the unfinished communities. But in the current economy it is not certain that the developments will sell easily if that is part of Bagwell’s bankruptcy strategy.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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