News

Business court grants receiver control of Cedars project

The stalled Cedars Lodge & Spa project is now in the hands of a receiver after a North Carolina Business Court judge on June 24 granted the primary lender’s motion for the appointment. [AMY B. MCCRAW/Hendersonville Lightning]

By Bill Moss, Published: July 1, 2026

A North Carolina Business Court judge last week quickly granted a request by the main lender of the Cedars Lodge & Spa development to force the stalled luxury condo project into receivership, giving a court-appointed overseer control over the assets and the future of the property.

In a sweeping order granted last Wednesday — the same day as a hearing on the lender’s motion — A. Graham Shirley, a Special Superior Court judge for Complex Cases, ordered the Cedars’ corporate owners to turn over land, buildings and other assets to the receiver.
The order empowers the receiver, Liberty Solution LLC, to market, list and sell the property, with the consent of Fuse 10 LLC, the Fort Lauderdale-based commercial finance company that loaned the Cedars developers $32 million in 2023.
After Fuse filed the lawsuit on May 29 in Henderson County Civil Superior Court, the case was designated as a business court case and assigned to Judge Shirley in Charlotte.
Cedars Lodge managing partner Gregg Covin could still obtain new financing to salvage the project, and he said in an interview he is working to do that.
“Because this is an active case we cannot give detailed statements to the press other than to say we are actively working on a financing solution to restart the project,” he said in an email response to the Lightning’s request for a response to the receivership order.

The Cedars Lodge land and buildings had been owned by the Shipman family since the 1950s, when Clifton Shipman bought it. An exhibit in Fuse’s receivership lawsuit lists the corporation’s owners as Clifton’s widow, Delores Shipman, his son, Tom Shipman, and daughter, Barbara Shipman Huntley, each with a 10 percent stake; and LBM Enterprises LLC and Covin, with 35 percent apiece. Covin, the builder of several successful high-end developments in Miami, is married to Shelley Shipman, the daughter of Fran and Tom Shipman.

In his 13-page order, Judge Shirley noted that “the parties have agreed to the appointment of a limited receiver over the collateral,” and recited the same facts Fuse had spelled out in its motion for receivership, including:

• The Cedars investors bought and own eight parcels in the square block valued on the tax books at $11.6 million.
• The developer obtained a $32 million construction loan for the project from Fuse, secured by a first priority lien against the real and personal property.
• The Fuse loan matured on Dec. 31, 2025, a date that was a seven-month extension of the original payment deadline. Cedars Lodge has failed to pay the debt, and was served with a default notice in May.
• The general contractor for the job, Turner Construction Co., has sued Cedars Lodge for $7 million and demanded foreclosure on the property to satisfy its lien claim.
• The first of two proposed wings, the Church Street-facing Pisgah Tower, is partially completed, exposed to the elements and in danger of deterioration.

A receiver is needed, the judge wrote, “to safeguard the collateral and determine whether to sell all or any portion” of the land and building “and if so, to effectuate such a sale subject to approval by this Court.”
The judge ordered the owners and officers of the Cedars companies to cooperate with the receiver without interference, allow access to the property and turn over books, records and other financial information and documents. It gives the receiver “sole and exclusive ownership of the receivership property until further order of the court.”
The order authorizes Liberty Solution to hire attorneys, contractors, vendors and others to ensure the “orderly and efficient management and preservation” of the property. The order authorizes the receiver to advertise the property for sale, solicit offers to purchase it and enter into a contract to sell, subject to a notice and hearing before the business court. Fuse, too, is authorized under the order to contact parties that may be interested, provided that the lender report “the nature and content of such discussions and negotiations” to the receiver and Cedars Lodge.
The order grants Liberty a startup fee of $7,500 and after that hourly rates of $250 for partners, $200 for principals, $150 for associates, $125 for accountants and $75 for administrative assistants.

‘It’s an attractive property’

One of the attorneys to appear in person was Gene F. Rash, a construction law specialist who represents Power Design, an electrical contractor that’s filed a $968,700 mechanic’s lien against the Cedars. He said the owners could salvage the project if they secure new financing.
“They’ve agreed to the receiver, a receiver’s been appointed and the receiver will now handle the business of the Cedars, including that property, and will likely explore buyers for it if the current owners do not obtain financing,” Rash said.
If Covin and the other investors are able to obtain additional financing and pay off the $32 million loan, “then it will be back in the owner’s hands,” he said. “Otherwise, the court is charged with figuring out how to pay off creditors. Unfortunately, what usually happens in these cases is the original lender has priority over everybody else and everybody else gets wiped out.”
Rash said he was confident that the receiver would be able to find a buyer for the site and partially complete condo tower.
“It’s an attractive property and there likely will be folks interested in buying it,” he said. “There are still active developers. I’ve got clients that are still obtaining financing and building new multifamily projects. I think there will be interest.”