Plant City’s Red Rose Inn & Suites, along with other assets owned by the Madonia family and East Coast Brokers and Packers Inc., will be auctioned off beginning Aug. 15, pending United States Bankruptcy Court approval.
The filing by Chapter 11 Trustee Gerard A. McHale Jr. asked the court for approval of dates for a series live and online auctions beginning Aug. 15. The Red Rose auction is scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 16, at The Lakeland Center, 701 W. Line St., Lakeland.
Carl Carter, of Murray Wise Associates LLC, the agricultural real estate marketing and financial advisory firm assisting East Coast Brokers and Packers Inc. and the Madonia family with their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, said his company expects court approval for the dates this week.
Murray Wise Associates originally placed the assets for sale through a series of four sealed bid offerings. Bids for the packages were due by July 5 and likely will be included as bids in the scheduled auctions, Carter said. He would not disclose how many sealed bids his company received for the assets.
“Don’t conclude that we are having these live and online auctions because the sealed bids were not successful,” he said. “We said all along that this might be part of (the process).”
Evelyn and Batista Madonia Sr., the owners of Plant City’s Red Rose Inn and Suites, filed for Chapter 11 protection March 6, for themselves and four corporations: Circle M Ranch Inc.; East Coast Brokers and Packers Inc.; Oakwood Place Inc. (Red Rose Inn and Suites); and Ruskin Vegetable Corp.
The couple cited between $50 and $100 million in liabilities and the same in estimated assets, as well as more than 200 creditors, in the filing.
The Red Rose closed in May 2012, following the death of the Madonia’s daughter, Laurie.
“The biggest change is that the major farmland assets in Virginia and Florida will be sold on separate dates,” Murray Wise Associates President Ken Nofziger said of the auctions, which will be conducted in cooperation with Crosby & Associates and Woltz & Associates. “Given the large number of assets of widely varying types, we felt it would be wise to streamline and simplify the process wherever possible.”
Auctions are planned for the following dates:
• 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at The Lakeland Center, 701 W. Line St., Lakeland: About 7,377 acres of Florida farm and development land in Martin, Hillsborough, Polk and Manatee counties; two packing houses; a former Bible college, and several labor camps.
• 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, at The Lakeland Center, 701 W. Line St., Lakeland: The Red Rose Inn & Suites, along with a home in Lakeland, home sites in Walden Lake and other Florida assets.
• 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19: Cape Charles, Va.-area properties, including two luxury homes in Bay Creek, plantation-style home, colonial style house just south of Painter, and home just west of Oyster. Also set for auction is a home surrounded by water on Marsh Island just outside Chincoteague.
• 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at Exmore Moose Lodge 683, 15315 Merry Car Lane, Exmore, Va.: Thirty-one properties (primarily farmland) totaling about 3,228 acres; produce packing houses; labor camps, and several homes in Virginia, primarily in Accomack and Northampton counties.
• 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28: Live and online auction of agricultural equipment in Mulberry.
• 9 a.m. Sept. 3 to 4: Live and online auction of agricultural equipment in Virginia.
Those interested in more information about the properties should visit murraywiseassociates.com.
