By Jeff Swiatek From IndyStar

Prominent Indianapolis developer and real estate manager HDG Mansur faces at least four lawsuits for money owed and is in “severe financial distress,” says a document in one of the lawsuits.

The financial disclosures about Mansur are part of an attempt by two equity funds to quickly collect on a $5.8 million pretrial summary judgment against HDG Mansur by a federal judge in New York.

The equity funds, which HDG Mansur once managed, told the judge that HDG Mansur’s financial problems are so severe it might not be able to pay the $5.8 million judgment.

HDG Mansur, through its New York attorney Frank Earley, denied the claim that the company is in dire financial straits, saying that it “remains active”:

“HDG Mansur, like many property companies, has had to refocus to meet the changing market. There has been a market shift from funds to single-asset investments, and the company has been adjusting its activities to meet that need.

The company remains active and has recently bid on a number of properties in the U.S. and the UK totaling over $130 million. The development company also remains active with its projects and management services.”

The recent court filing by the Cayman Islands-registered funds, which sued HDG Mansur on claims of breach of contract and fraud, notes that HDG Mansur faces three other lawsuits:

• A former partner in a joint venture that owns buildings in a business park in Palm Beach, Fla., sued HDG Mansur in March for failing to make required capital contributions, paying itself fees it wasn’t entitled to, and concealing the payments, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought by a Kuwait-based investment fund.

• Colliers International of New York sued HDG Mansur this month for, according to the lawsuit, not paying $44,370 in broker fees for handling a sublease of office space in New York City by HDG Mansur.

• Wirral Borough Council of Great Britain sued HDG Mansur in April in Indianapolis for, according to the lawsuit, failing to pay rent, about $900,000, on London office space that it leased in 2004 and defaulted on last year.

HDG Mansur also was developing a major mixed-use project in Bristol, England, that went into receivership this spring when HDG Mansur defaulted on a loan, the BBC News reported in April.

The $350 million project aimed to turn a former brewery into homes, offices and shops. A bank-appointed receiver is now remarketing the project, called Finzels Reach.

In the case involving the equity funds, HDG Mansur has filed a counterclaim and says it is owed $20.3 million in fees, plus severance payments, for being terminated in January as asset manager of the Florida properties.

The web site of HDG Mansur, whose chairman and chief executive is Harold D. Garrison, says it has $2.2 billion of assets under management as of June 30, but it’s unclear if that refers to June 2013. The most recent press release on the web site is dated Jan. 23 of this year.

The company is based in Market Tower, a 32-story Downtown office tower that it developed.

PHOTO Looking down into the lobby inside Market Tower, a Mansur development. / Robert Scheer/The Star

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