According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, the commercial real estate developer of the Heritage at the Stoneleigh Dallas, a luxury residential development in Dallas’ Uptown area, has been forced into involuntary bankruptcy by five of its creditors.

The article said:

AP-Prescott Stoneleigh Residences LP owes $4.7 million primarily to Turner Construction Co. and it subcontractors for work on the tower located on Maple Avenue… Work stopped on the condominium project last summer with about 10 stories of 22 planned completed.

This isn’t the first high-end commercial real estate project to face bankruptcy and most likely it’s just one of many to come.  The commercial real estate industry is being rocked by a number of bankruptcies as the industry’s buyers and financing severely contracts.

For about the past 10 years the engine of our economy has been driven by housing, but with rising foreclosures and bankruptcies hitting this industry we’re facing some serious financially troubled waters.  Job losses are the biggest fallout from this downturn as millions face layoffs because of lagging sales and business closures.

But the pain doesn’t stop there, because those without jobs don’t buy homes (or much of anything outside of the basics) many remaining businesses are struggling or collapsing causing a domino effect of job losses and corporate bankruptcies that continue to peak with little slow down in sight.  But I don’t think we’ve seen the worse of these commercial real estate bankruptcies.

As developers fail to get financing on current and/or new projects in the coming year many more will be forced to file bankruptcy.