Sun News - The majority of Freestyle Music Park's board of directors have stepped down in the wake of a foreclosure suit against the park, former president Steve Baker said in an interview today. A single member, appointed by the park's Russian investors, stayed on the board and continues to try to sell the park, said Baker, who also resigned. All other members of FPI MB Entertainment LLC, the park's owner, resigned after the park's mortgage holder, FPI US LLC, filed a foreclosure suit on Aug. 5, he said. Baker said he could not confirm the identity of the remaining board member with FPI MBE. The future of the park looks grim, Baker said. "I don’t think its dead…but I’m not real optimistic because I don’t think there’s anyone close to buying it," he said. Attorneys Nate Fata, representing FPI MBE, and David Slough, representing FPI US, could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.
The park failed twice in two years after lackluster seasons: First as Hard Rock Park in 2008, then as Freestyle in 2009. The park did not reopen for a 2010 season. The resignations leave Russian investors on both sides of the foreclosure suit. The mortgage holder, FPI US LLC, is a US division of MT Development, a Russian developer. FPI US formed a joint venture with MB Entertainment LLC to start the park under the name FPI MB Entertainment LLC, according to court documents, and appointed its own representative to the resulting company's board. FPI MBE responded to the foreclosure suit Friday, admitting most of the claims against it, according to court documents. FPI MBE affirmed that it owes nearly $25 million on the park, is in default on its loans and is unable to pay the outstanding amount. "They're pretty much admitting a debt is owed and they're pretty much admitting there’s a mortgage and there’s going to be a foreclosure," said Joseph Wachter, an attorney not affiliated with either party.
The response said that FPI MBE should not be responsible for its debt beyond what can be repaid if the property is auctioned off. That's the only claim FPI MBE denied outright with minor claims being denied due to lack of sufficient information, Wachter said. The response indicates a change in the legal approach for FPI MB Entertainment LLC, the park's owner, which has sporadically responded to lawsuits. Local and federal courts have issued at least eight rulings against FPI MB for failure to respond to lawsuits. Baker and the board had been working to find a new buyer for the park prior to their resignations, he said. The foreclosure suit puts additional urgency on the park to find new investors and will make it more difficult to sell, he said. "The Myrtle Beach market can support a park, and I think that market can be attractive," Baker said. "But I think time is not on the investors' side."
