A foreclosure sale was scheduled Nov. 5 for the unfinished Princeton Luxury Apartments on U.S. 380 east of Walmart but the date was postponed to Tuesday, Dec. 2, after the property owner obtained a temporary restraining order, said Bryce Delin, the original general contractor on the project.

According to the Collin County Clerk’s office, the current holder and beneficiary of the Deed of Trust is Churchill Funding I REO, LLC, located in North Carolina.

The 15 acres at 599 W. Princeton Drive was appraised this year by Collin Appraisal District as $16,437,466.

However, the sale notice said the Deed of Trust dated June 2, 2021, secures the payment of the indebtedness and obligations including, but not limited to, the Construction Loan Agreement dated Dec. 22, 2021, in the original principal amount of $37.5 million.

Delin told the Aug. 22, 2024, meeting of the Princeton Housing Standards Commission that subcontractors had filed $6.8 million in liens for work performed since construction began in February 2022. He said foreclosure could erase the liens. 

The Aug. 22 meeting ended with the commission — comprising the mayor and members of the Princeton City Council – issuing an order requiring demolition of three buildings and completion by February 2026 of the entire project: 300 apartments in 12 buildings and a clubhouse.

Assistant City Attorney Grant Lowry said the detailed order, with specific timelines, applies to the current owner and any subsequent owner. “This order … runs with the land,” Lowry said. 

Mayor Brianna Chacon said in a livestream Sunday night, Nov. 3, the lender (Churchill Funding) had been extremely helpful to the city.

“They’ve been in communication back and forth with the city to make for sure those timelines are met,” Chacon said. “I’ve talked to them personally. They’ve talked to our teams. They talked to our attorneys again. They’re funding the project. They do not want this to go belly up and be something catastrophic, because at the end of the day, they’ve got a bottom line.”

Asked why the foreclosure notice filed Oct. 11 was not mentioned at the Tuesday, Oct. 28, meeting of the Housing Standards Commission, the mayor told The Princeton Herald, “Ownership is not city enforced” and she restated that a change in ownership would not affect the order.

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