The filing was completed Oct. 23, right before an auction for the 400-acre property by creditors.

Company officials say the firm had reached a settlement agreement with Standard Federal and Bank One in May, halting a foreclosure sale. However, recently the company still owed more than $4 million to the banks and to other unsecured creditors.

By filing the bankruptcy, the second auction was put on indefinite hold, Bassett says.

"The bank rejected a person who wanted to infuse capital into the project, so Made in Detroit had to file," Bassett explains. "It's only a reorganization. The development is still moving forward as far as I know."

She says groundbreaking should take place sometime next summer.

William T. Merriweather, chairman and chief executive officer of Made In Detroit, has said construction was supposed to begin this summer.

The company's project had consisted of about 350 high-priced homes and a golf course along the Detroit River, on a 400-acre piece of land formerly used as a dump and for duck hunting.

Made In Detroit had permission from the state to remove 3.9 acres of wetlands if it created 12 acres of natural features.

Resident protests held up the project, and a dispute with the Army Corps of Engineers made the company leave the 3.9 acres of wetlands alone.

The number of home units has been knocked down to 296, Bassett says.

"Basically, the development's really the same," she tells GlobeSt.com. "The only thing that's different is there will be no mediation. They're not disturbing any wetlands. They found a way around that."

The city council approved a preliminary site plan for the project in the spring, a reapplication that the company had to do because plans approved by the city had expired in November 2001.

The homes will cost between $350,000 to $500,000, Bassett says. The golf course is now set for nine holes. However, she says the company is trying to acquire the property across Gibraltar Road to build another nine holes.

The development will be built in three phases, Bassett says. The first phase will be around the riverfront area, while the second phases would involve building a bridge to Humbug Island and building dwellings and marina there.

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