A company that has a $100 million investment in an apartment building in Irvine, California, is now saying the project will likely result in more than 400 jobs being lost.
The Irvine Business Journal reported on Wednesday that the Irvine-based Irvine Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, citing declining property values, the impending collapse of the Irvine economy and “further significant reductions in business activity.”
The Irvine Corporation is the largest single owner of a new apartment development in Irvine known as the Irvine City Center.
The company is also the owner of the existing Irvine City Plaza project.
Irvine City Council approved the project last year.
The developer is now seeking a buyer to pay $8.6 million for the property.
A group of investors, including the Irvine Corporation, bought the Irvine Plaza in 2007 for $3.5 million.
The project has been struggling with low rent, the Irvine Business Review reported last year, and was approved in 2009 to build luxury apartments for more than 1,500 people, but has not met expectations.
Irvine is located about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The area is one of the wealthiest suburbs in California, according to the U, with more than $1.2 trillion in real estate assets in its possession.
It has seen its population grow by about 40 percent since the 1970s, and a lot of people move out.
