Bitter fruit: Another Kluge venture under foreclosure

Five parcels in phase one of Vineyard Estates are under foreclosure.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

Patricia Kluge and Bill Moses close out 2010 with another foreclosure in their future, this time on five lots in their 24-lot Vineyard Estates subdivision.

The parcels in Meadow Estates, phase one of the high-end gated subdivision in southern Albemarle, total 122 acres and are assessed at $6.9 million. Vineyard Estates LLC owes $8.2 million, according to a property auction notice.

Partner First Colony Corporation from North Carolina went bankrupt, a demise that precipitated the first foreclosure of the year, when the 6,600-square-foot Glen Love Cottage, the only house built in the subdivision, according to county records, went on the block in March. Kluge and Moses bought back the property, assessed at $2.76 million, for $3,675,000 and now reside there.

"Vineyard Estates has suffered from a lack of sales as have many other real estate projects during the recent economic downturn," says Bill Moses in a statement. He notes that First Colony, "an experienced and successful developer," was unable to complete its funding obligations or to find alternative financing. Sonabank out of McLean called the loan.

A similar scenario put Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard up for auction in early December. Payments on the $35 million line of credit were current, said Moses in an earlier interview with the Hook, but the winery had not met sales quotas. With an opening minimum of $19 million and no other bidders, Farm Credit took possession of the award-winning winery December 8.

Farm Credit also holds a second lien on Albemarle House, Kluge's mansion that was listed for a record $100 million a year ago, but now can be had for $24 million.

The Vineyard Estates parcels will be auctioned off at the Albemarle County Courthouse at 11am January 11.

"We remain hopeful that given various ongoing negotiations, the vision we have had for helping this project benefit the county, as well as the Virginia wine industry, may still be able to be realized," says Moses. "We shall continue in that effort."