An Indianapolis developer’s last-minute bankruptcy filing halted the auction of a struggling downtown condominium project.

Close to 50 people gathered Feb. 7 to bid on eight units at the Chatham Kynett Court development at 716 N. East St. But an attorney for the property’s original owner showed up to notify the group that the owner had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stopping the sale, according to Jeff Donor, a vice president at Key Auctioneers.

Indianapolis-based developer SC Devcon brought the Chatham Kynett Court project to market in 2008, just before the real estate market soured. The units ranged from 1,400 square feet to 2,200 square feet and were offered for $249,000 to almost $400,000.

Three of the condos sold while the remaining eight sat empty for almost five years in various stages of completion. Key Auctioneers intended on Feb. 7 to sell those remaining units "as is."

SC Devcon affiliate Timberpace LLC owned the property.

Indiana Secretary of State records list the registered agent for both firms as Shawn Cannon. The firms have the same address in an office building at 110 E. Washington St. State records indicate both businesses have dissolved. Calls to the listed phone numbers for the companies went unanswered last week.

A Feb. 7 court filing lists the condo properties as belonging to another firm, Allpark LLC. Cannon is the managing member of Allpark.

In a court order, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Coachys granted a reprieve until March 11 for Cannon to file the initial Chapter 11 documents. His Feb. 7 filing was enough to stop the auction but not enough to proceed with a bankruptcy.

An attorney for Cannon declined to comment beyond what was in court records.

Donor said he has not heard from the owner since the auction was canceled.