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Mark Mahaffey, one of nine partners who began developing The Reserve at Lake Tyler in 2003, said the federal bankruptcy court in Tyler has given Keen Realty LLC until Feb. 6, 2007, to sell the property on Smith County Road 285 (Eastside Drive).

Mahaffey said Keen is asking $13 million to $15 million for the property. Efforts to reach Keen Realty Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

In April, Judge Bill Parker, chief U.S. bankruptcy judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, signed orders of relief under Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Neptune Properties LP, which owns the majority of the stock of Reunion Harbor Inc.; and Reunion Harbor, the operating company for the resort.

Neptune conducted business under the name "The Reserve at Lake Tyler," which comprises the entire development.

Bankruptcy trustee Jason Searcy petitioned the court to hire Keen Realty to list the property, Mahaffey said.

Neptune Properties and Reunion Harbor also owe property taxes to three entities, said Tab Beall, partner in Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott LLP, Smith County's delinquent tax law firm.

Reunion Harbor owes nearly $40,000 collectively in delinquent taxes to Smith County and Arp Independent School District, Beall said. Neptune Properties also owes less than $20,000 collectively to those entities and Chapel Hill Independent School District.

Mahaffey said the project experienced "a lot of timing issues. ... This kind of resort property is very intense capitalization and it's a real high-risk real estate venture."

It takes the correct timing and components to make a real estate venture work, he said.

"I think most people, if they've had 40 or 45 birthdays, have known of development projects that have gone a little wayward for awhile and gotten back on track," Mahaffey said, adding he believes an appropriate buyer would get the project back on track.

Mahaffey said he has talked to parties large enough to purchase the property and continue its development, and they have indicated some interest. All offers must be directed to Keen Realty and must be proposed to the bankruptcy court and ruled on by the bankruptcy judge.

A July 16 article on bymnews.com confirmed Keen's listing. It described the property as containing about 830 acres.

According to the description, the development has 195 platted lots on about 263 acres. About 115 of those lots were available for sale. It also contains about 434 contiguous areas for future development and about 100 acres to be used as a park or greenbelt.

A lakeside community resort comprises another 30 acres.

Mahaffey and partners Mark Hinton, Lura Norman, Donna Clements, Mike Clements, Terry Slater, Nanci Wright, Woody Wright and Joseph Z. Ornelas announced development plans for The Reserve at Lake Tyler in March 2004. The partnership projected an initial 205 lots to be developed in three years.

Also in March 2004, HGTV and The Reserve announced the development would be the site of the 2005 HGTV Dream Home. More than 23,000 people saw The Reserve at Lake Tyler on their way to touring the Dream Home from January-April 2005, and Illinois resident Don Cruz won the home.

Mahaffey said he and Hinton began buying the other partners' shares in April 2005, and were still in that process at the time of the bankruptcy filing.

Now, the development is maintained by funds derived from dues and charges on amenities.

Mahaffey said he believes the development still offers a positive future for lot owners and homeowners, and it still has $45 million in potential lot sales.

"It's still a great piece of real estate," he said. "It's the same piece of real estate they bought a year and a half ago. Nothing's been taken away except the momentum. ... Someone is going to be successful at buying it, and it will have to be someone who is successful (in the view of) the court."

Greg Junek is Business editor. He can be reached at 903.596.6280. e-mail: business@tylerpaper.com"> business@tylerpaper.com