ST. LOUIS — One of the leaders behind the Armory redevelopment in Midtown is off the hook for more than $69 million of debt as his bankruptcy case nears conclusion.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Eastern Missouri earlier this month discharged at least $69.3 million of unsecured claims filed by creditors against Kevin Morrell, a principal of ӣƵ-based Green Street Real Estate Ventures.
Morrell had sought protection under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also known as a “fresh start bankruptcy,” filed in December as his real estate development company floundered.
The court order means Morrell is not personally liable to repay creditors, though those with claims backed by collateral — like real estate — could still collect. It’s not clear whether Morrell’s partner, Green Street founder Phil Hulse, or their various affiliated companies will be liable to pay creditors.
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The largest unsecured creditors listed in the bankruptcy filings are lenders and entities affiliated with Green Street’s senior living venture:
- Peoples National Bank, which had five different claims totaling more than $38 million.
- An entity affiliated with Twain Financial Partners, with a $15.5 million claim.
- $10.9 million in four different claims from various companies connected to Green Street’s Chapters Living senior living business.
Morrell did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials with Peoples, Twain Financial and a lawyer representing the senior living entities also did not respond to a request for comment.
Green Street was a prolific developer in the city of ӣƵ, where it transformed contaminated sites into industrial parks, built hundreds of apartments and revived — albeit for a few years — the long-dormant Armory in Midtown.
The company sought to grow nationally and created a construction division, acquired several design firms and dipped its toe into senior living. It pitched projects throughout the ӣƵ suburbs, including a luxury condominium and hotel development in Clayton.
But its ambitions collided with the pandemic and, later, rising interest rates. It laid off most of its staff in 2023. Lenders, vendors and investors sued the company and its leaders, Morrell and founder Phil Hulse.
The Armory, which was touted as “the biggest bar in STL,” closed last year, after less than two years of operation.
Morrell filed for bankruptcy a few months later.
The bankruptcy filing, of which Morrell disclosed more than $400 million of debt, underscored how complex Green Street’s holdings had become over the years, with more than 35 limited liability companies under the company umbrella and various financial vehicles. Morrell had personally guaranteed, sometimes along with Hulse, several of the loans.
In Peoples National Banks’ claims, the Illinois-based lender said it was owed money on several loans made to Morrell, through his KDM Enterprises LLC, and Green Street.
One loan was to be used to build out office spaces for the James S. McDonnell Foundation and marketing agency firm Brado, which now lease space at the developer’s headquarters near Interstate 44 and McRee Avenue in Forest Park Southeast.
Another is the basis of a separate lawsuit Peoples filed against in October against Green Street, Morrell and Hulse related to the Armory redevelopment. That case is still pending in ӣƵ Circuit Court.
In Twain Financial’s claim, the company said it is owed more than $15 million for a clean energy loan made to help fund the Armory development. The lender also has filed a lawsuit against Hulse for the loan.
In a separate claim, Green Street Real Estate Ventures said Morrell owed it $400,000.
Court documents showed that money was an “unauthorized advance on line of credit.”
Green Street’s lawyer for that claim declined to comment.
But one creditor with an unsecured claim will be allowed to continue. Colorado investor Kevin O’Neil is seeking more than $3.3 million from Morrell after O’Neil invested in one of Green Street’s apartment developments. O’Neil alleges the developer never paid him his returns and that Morrell personally guaranteed to pay O’Neil money that the company did not.
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