Village Homes, a longtime Fort Worth homebuilder, filed for bankruptcy this week as it battles Dallas-based developer Olerio Homes over a collapsed land and branding deal.
The filing allows the company to keep building while it works through the dispute, according to a news release. The legal fight stems from a proposed sale last year of 100 vacant lots and the Village Homes name, part of a rebrand and retirement plan for one of the firm’s founders, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Village claims Olerio failed to secure financing and backed out after putting down $300,000.
Olerio alleges the builder wrongly killed the deal, suing in Tarrant County for damages and control of the lots. In May, Olerio won an order blocking Village from selling the land; an August bid by Village to overturn the order was denied, court records show.
“This is not a decision we take lightly,” Village co-founder and president Michael Dike said, adding the company intends to keep paying employees, vendors and lenders. He framed the bankruptcy as a way to restructure and “come through this process intact.” In the statement, Dike also said the filing is not lender-driven.
Since launching in 1996, Village has delivered more than 1,500 homes across Fort Worth, including projects in Walsh Ranch and Linwood, and is currently building luxury townhomes in Stonegate. Their product line ranges from custom single-family homes to condos and townhomes with pricepoints from $290,000 to upwards of $2 million.
Olerio has been active in Dallas luxury homebuilding and custom projects.
The standoff leaves Village’s development pipeline tied up, its branding in limbo, and a Fort Worth company forced into bankruptcy court to preserve business as usual.
— Eric Weilbacher
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