NEW Vineyards Resort files for bankruptcy

YAKIMA -- The Vineyards Resort, a multi-million-dollar golf and housing destination resort, has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors, officials said today.

Rich Barnes, a co-managing partner of the 500-acre project southeast of Yakima and northwest of Zillah, said the filing will give developers an opportunity to find additional financing for the project.

“Our basic business plan will not change much,” Barnes said this morning. “We had to do this to protect the asset.”

Barnes said the deteriorating stock market and the inability of the development’s financier to supply financing prompted the filing.

Because of that, the developers could not meet its payments to Stark Investments, a Milwaukee, Wis., hedge fund that holds a $12.9 million bridge loan on the project.

The developers reached an agreement with Stark last month that would allow them to make regular payments on the loan. But without the construction financing, those payments could not be made, Barnes said.

The Vineyards is a $100-million project to develop a championship 18-hole golf course and almost 600 housing units. The development also includes a hotel, retail center and other amenities.

If completed, the project would have an estimated value of $500 million.

Barnes said the developers plan to proceed once the tight lending market eases. They will submit a plan to the bankruptcy court to allow it to continue.