The 286-unit Woodland Forest at 5920 Bissonet marks the first of two acquisitions being lined up for a 500-unit renovation by Claremont Property Co. Former owner Alfred J. Antonini of Hayward, CA is into his second year of a five-year sentence, which included a three-year supervised release and $175,000 fine for his role in the check kiting scam. He and long-time business associate, James G. Lomonaco of Houston, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in 2000 and were sentenced in January 2001. Lomonaco received a 30-month sentence, with three years supervised release and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.

The defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud over a 10-year period for a scheme centering on various real estate-related bank accounts in the Houston area and California. The US attorney's office said the banks' funds involved in the check kiting activities were repaid by the defendants.

The Woodland Forest transfer comes nearly three years after the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Houston approved the sale of Antonini's Natchez House Apartments to Gatesco Inc. According to court documents, Antonini held one-third interest in the complexes.

Woodland Forest's sale was delayed pending bankruptcy court approval, according to October 2001 records of the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. Plantation Capital was the debtor of record. Antonini, the court concluded, "had some interest in Plantation Capital although the exact relationship is not apparent from the record." Bissonet Investment LP was to sell the Woodland Forest complex to Gatesco, with the court's approval.

Claremont, not Gatesco, walked away with the deed from seller of record, HDW 200 137 West 82nd Street LLC. Jeff Eisenhardt of Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners' Houston office tells GlobeSt.com that the property went back to the lender, Park National Bank, and thus ended up in Claremont's hands.

Eisenhardt says Claremont plans to sink about $5 million into the renovation to take it back to its original size of 338 units. "They are going to take this building down to the studs," he says. Claremont also has a contract out on a 160-unit Antonini property.

The years have taken its toll on Woodland Forest, with some buildings falling in and others standing vacant due to their deplorable condition. Claremont specializes in buying distressed properties, renovating, repositioning and selling for a profit. The company is coming off the successful repositioning of the Allen Arms, a 185-unit apartment complex at 1000 S. Allen Genoa in Houston. That undertaking took two years to complete and brought $17,000 per unit.

Eisenhardt says Woodland Forest will be considerably more difficult due to its deterioration. In the end, a modern facility for low- to middle-income tenants will rise from the rubble to bring some much-needed relief to Houston's affordable housing shortage.