The bankruptcy court trustee overseeing Reston-based electrical contractor Truland Group Inc. is throwing in the proverbial towel on what electrical subcontracts the company was working on when it shut down last month and has asked the federal judge overseeing its liquidation effort for permission to abandon its claim to the tools it has been storing for work on those job sites.
Wiley Rein LLP attorney Jason Gold, in a phone interview, told me Truland’s trustee has concluded Truland’s estate cannot realistically complete work on virtually all of the subcontracts that were active when Truland filed for Chapter 7 liquidation July 23. Instead, Gold said, the company has concluded the best option is to turn those projects over to their general contractors, sureties or other interested parties.
“The vast majority are being abandoned by Truland so that the general contractors and the sureties and the bank can get those projects done as quickly as possible,” said Gold, who is representing Truland trustee Klinette Kindred. “At this point, the focus has been on seeing what assets might be available to liquidate to pay the creditors some money.”
Klinette previously indicated she was exploring whether Truland had any projects that were close enough to completion that could be finished in short order to allow Truland to collect its share of the subcontract for that work.
Kindred filed a motion with the court on Friday to abandon its interest in the property, including all the tools, material and furniture, it has been storing in various locations for use on its job sites across the Washington area. In making the motion, the trustee argued it intends to reject all of the debtors’ contracts to complete electrical work and, “therefore, the estates have no need or use for the property.”
Truland’s loss, it appears, is at least partially Clark Construction Group LLC’s gain. Clark filed a corresponding motion for all of those tools and supplies Truland affiliate Truland Walker Seal Transportation was storing for work on one subcontract, rehabilitating a portion of Metro’s Orange/Blue line from Stadium Armory to National Airport. Clark, in its motion, said it is on the hook for those things, which “are urgently required” to complete the work and that “it may suffer significant damages” and increased claims against Truland’s estate the longer it is not able to access that equipment.
Among the items: about 14,000 feet of Okonite 1000kCMIL cable, which cost about $354,000, and about $45,000 in MDS Power battery banks and chargers.
Gold said the property does not include about 100 Truland vehicles, valued at about $500,000, that the estate plans to sell to pay off its creditors. Truland has also filed a motion with the court to retain an auctioneer to help with those sales.
