A little update now on the case of Dr. Hiren D. Patel, doctor at the center of a controversy over dueling convention centers on both sides of Texarkana.
Patel owns Texarkana Hotels LLC that in turn owns the combination 27,000-SF, $18 million Arkansas Convention Center and Holiday Inn on the Arkansas side. The center and hotel opened in 2013, about a year after a convention center on the Texas side of the city.
Texarkana Hotels filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March in the Eastern District of Texas. It claimed between $1 million and $10 million in assets and liabilities and between one and 49 creditors.
Among those creditors is Midsouth Bank of Lafayette, Louisiana. Midsouth filed a foreclosure petition in Miller County Circuit Court in October 2015 against Patel, his wife and Texarkana Hotels, saying the Patels had defaulted on more than $10 million in loans used to build the convention center.
Now, Texarkana Hotels has entered into a $6.6 million purchase agreement with James J. Naples, according to a Jan. 30 Bankruptcy Court filing, and will be seeking the court’s approval of the sale. If approved, the sale will close by March 15.
Naples also bought the Country Inn & Suites, owned by Patel and his wife, Dineschandra, through their Krishna Associates LLC. That company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November, when it listed $5.3 million in debts and $3.2 million in assets. The filing halted the foreclosure sale of Country Inn & Suites.
Naples paid $2.9 million for the hotel, with the money going to Midsouth.
Midsouth was also seeking payment from the Patels, who personally guaranteed the debts, but that has been slowed by their personal bankruptcy filing.
Patel’s lawyer, Bill F. Payne of Dallas, hadn’t called back by press time.