Foreclosure averted on Forum in Norcross

By By Gertha Coffee

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Well-known metro Atlanta developer Stan Thomas’s company narrowly avoided foreclosure this week on one of its signature properties, the Forum on Peachtree Parkway in Norcross.

The upscale, mixed-use retail center was advertised for foreclosure and scheduled for sale Tuesday morning before the courthouse door in Gwinnett County.

Thomas, founder and chairman of Thomas Enterprises in Newnan, said Wednesday the company worked out its differences with the lender over the $84 million loan.

“We had a disagreement that has been resolved,” he said. He declined to offer additional comments.

The securitized loan on the 580,000-square-foot shopping center is held by a publicly-traded REMIC Trust, said Atlanta attorney John Benson, who represented the lender.

The original lender was Wachovia Bank.

“While it was posted for sale on Tuesday, it did not foreclose and the borrower and the lender continue to have discussions,” said Benson. “We will continue to see more foreclosures until the commercial real estate market comes back.”

The Forum on Peachtree Parkway, anchored by Belk, opened in 2002. Its target market includes residents in nearby affluent communities in Gwinnett and north Fulton, such as Country Club of the South.

Thomas, known in metro Atlanta for his large retail centers, has done a number of mixed-used projects in other states. Like other developers, he has not escaped the real estate downturn.

His proposed Prospect Park in Alpharetta is on hold. The mixed-use development was initially scheduled to open in 2007, but the 90-acre site remains largely undisturbed.

Also, Thomas was sued in July by three business partners, who claimed, among other things, that he failed to pay money owed them and refused to turn over documents related to a redevelopment project in California. The suit sought more than $30 million.