Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A deed of appointment of substitute trustees was filed yesterday in DC..that's usually the sign that a lender is getting ready to foreclose.

Or the debt was sold to someone else.

No, the banks are foreclosing. Game over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A deed of appointment of substitute trustees was filed yesterday in DC..that's usually the sign that a lender is getting ready to foreclose.

Or the debt was sold to someone else.

No, the banks are foreclosing. Game over

Forgive me for being skeptical, but this thread has been going for a year now.

How do you know that the banks are foreclosing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids are supposed to be back to virtual this week, right? Any idea if that's happening?

And why are they in virtual, when every other school in the city is open? Is there something wrong with the building?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They hid it from you when you applied

Chris Whittle is not to be trusted. But he's very good at hiding that fact. He's fooled a ton of people over the years. On this project alone, he fooled among many others a large group of well-educated dedicated school teachers and administrators representing several continents, a huge experienced construction company,, and the People's Republic of China.

He doesn't know much about education -- although he talks as if he does. And he cares about education even less -- although he talks as if he's dedicated to its betterment. And he's a crappy businessman -- who, time and again, has proven that all he likes to do, and what he'll insist on doing, is overspend other people's money on fancy stuff he craves, whether it's of value to the business or not.

He's a con man. And that's all he is. Only bright spot I can see here is that maybe he's too damn old now to pull off one of these big schemes again.

I will never forgive them for what they did to many families. But Chris didn’t directly hire us or talk to us, his admins are a group of delusional or wannabes who played that role on his behalf.

Seems he's a big enough con man to never have to work alone. I suppose he initially cons some of his inner circle while others join with eyes open and just want their cut, some delusional, some wannabes, as you say.

Whittle has always been legendary for dazzling his inner circle with extravagant pay and benefits. It was not uncommon to see people getting 2-3x what they would at an established organization and all the more baffling that they were getting paid so much in a start-up! And these inner-circle leadership types then become the fiercest defenders of the Whittle "vision" for the basest of reasons - self interest in perpetuating their fat paychecks. Pathetic really

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A deed of appointment of substitute trustees was filed yesterday in DC..that's usually the sign that a lender is getting ready to foreclose.

Or the debt was sold to someone else.

No, the banks are foreclosing. Game over

Forgive me for being skeptical, but this thread has been going for a year now.

How do you know that the banks are foreclosing?

The deed of appointment of substitute trustees was filed last week, not a year ago. Banks are slow to act, but once they do it usually ends poorly for the counterparty

[Anonymous]

Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

It was purchased by 601 W. Cos for $85 million in 2012 and Whittle leases it. Confirmed here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2018/02/09/new-global-school-to-take-over-former-intelsat-hq.html

Not sure what a Whittle foreclosure action would be related to. Can anyone post the court case number?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

A large construction loan was secured to fund all the expensive Renzo Piano renovations. That is secured against the property which is leased to Whittle.

This is going to be really ugly for all parties concerned. I feel sorry for the parents who, if we believe some of the information on this thread, gave this crook and his organization $800k just a few weeks ago pretty much for naught. Perhaps their one solace is that at least some of that money went to the teachers... It is remarkable that the school has not disseminated any of this information to parents and staff.. Remarkable but not surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A deed of appointment of substitute trustees was filed yesterday in DC..that's usually the sign that a lender is getting ready to foreclose.

Where does one find this? It's easy to find the open court cases on the DC Superior Court's docket. But I'm not familiar where to find this type of information. Or is it embedded in a case that is on the docket?

[Anonymous]

Office of Tax and Revenue> recorder of deeds>document images

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

A large construction loan was secured to fund all the expensive Renzo Piano renovations. That is secured against the property which is leased to Whittle.

This is going to be really ugly for all parties concerned. I feel sorry for the parents who, if we believe some of the information on this thread, gave this crook and his organization $800k just a few weeks ago pretty much for naught. Perhaps their one solace is that at least some of that money went to the teachers... It is remarkable that the school has not disseminated any of this information to parents and staff.. Remarkable but not surprising.

How can the loan be secured against the building if Whittle does not own the building and the building owner is not a creditor?

The lease itself is considered both an asset and liability on Whittle’s balance sheet. If the loan is secured by the lease asset it’s not the same as the building and the value could be negligible.

In summary, even if this debt is foreclosed I am not sure it means what you think it means. Most likely it results in a default and auction of the debt itself for pennies in the dollar to anyone brave enough to believe that they can recuperate some of the debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

A large construction loan was secured to fund all the expensive Renzo Piano renovations. That is secured against the property which is leased to Whittle.

So the building owner agreed to offer its building as collateral for Whittle's construction loan? I wonder what they were getting in return for that significant risk.

[Anonymous]

I just feel horrible for the kids and teachers. Everyone is remote this week and are supposed to be in person next week. My child is still friendly with a few of the kids including a boarder who is freaking out. My child was there last year. It was a horrible choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the banks foreclosing on the building itself? Does Whittle own that? (I thought it was a lease.)

A large construction loan was secured to fund all the expensive Renzo Piano renovations. That is secured against the property which is leased to Whittle.

This is going to be really ugly for all parties concerned. I feel sorry for the parents who, if we believe some of the information on this thread, gave this crook and his organization $800k just a few weeks ago pretty much for naught. Perhaps their one solace is that at least some of that money went to the teachers... It is remarkable that the school has not disseminated any of this information to parents and staff.. Remarkable but not surprising.

How can the loan be secured against the building if Whittle does not own the building and the building owner is not a creditor?

The lease itself is considered both an asset and liability on Whittle’s balance sheet. If the loan is secured by the lease asset it’s not the same as the building and the value could be negligible.

In summary, even if this debt is foreclosed I am not sure it means what you think it means. Most likely it results in a default and auction of the debt itself for pennies in the dollar to anyone brave enough to believe that they can recuperate some of the debt.

It is common for landlords to take out commercial loans to fund TI expenses agreed to in a lease. As for the PP's question, typically the LL agrees to fund the TI in exchange for a higher base rent. Which Whittle, with his grand promises of 2500 full fee paying students, made them believe was a slam dunk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just feel horrible for the kids and teachers. Everyone is remote this week and are supposed to be in person next week. My child is still friendly with a few of the kids including a boarder who is freaking out. My child was there last year. It was a horrible choice.

Is Whittle trying to help the families? Do you know if they're being upfront with them about the situation?