The creditors will be voting on two proposals that have emergedto revive the 4.5-acre development, one by an original developmentpartner and the other by the city itself in partnership with EnronMicroclimates, which holds a $1 million judgment lien against theRound for a state-of-the-art energy system. The original developersof the Round are two companies controlled by Selwyn Bingham andSylvia Cleaver. Under a plan Cleaver submitted last week in U.S.Bankruptcy Court in Portland, she would put up $4.8 million andform an LLC to take back full control of the project and pay mostof what is owed to secured creditors, $1 million to Enron and mostof what is owed to unsecured creditors. The city's competing plan,in partnership with Enron, would pay $1.3 million to creditors totake back the project from bankruptcy court.

The Cleaver plan is obviously the better one for creditors, butonly if she can obtain financing, the lack of which caused thesebankruptcy proceedings in the first place. Dan Vidas, attorney forthe two development companies controlled by Bingham and Cleaver,tells GlobeSt. that financing is a legitimate concern forcreditors, but says the business climate has improved from 1999.Moreover, he says Cleaver fully expects to get financing from oneof two entities with which she is currently negotiating, and thatthe city and Enron's proposal would leave secured creditors withonly 45 cents on the dollar.

On Dec. 11, Vidas tells GlobeSt. the court will rule on thecompleteness of the financial disclosure statements required toaccompany the plans for resurrecting the development. Disclosurestatements are rarely approved on the first go-round, says Vidas,but it's possible only minor additions would be needed and bothdocuments along with a ballot could be in creditors' hands byChristmas. Once received, creditors have 45 days to decide whichplan they prefer. If Cleaver can show financing by that time, itwould most likely be the preferred plan, as more creditors wouldsee more reimbursements. A court hearing to certify the vote andname a controller is expected in February if the timelineholds.