Creditors voting on Copia liquidation plan

SCOTT MANCHESTER/For the Press Democrat/2008
The Copia complex, seen here in May of last year, has been closed since November when the food, wine and arts center in downtown Napa ran out of cash.

---

Creditors have until Friday to vote on a liquidation plan for Copia, the bankrupt Napa wine center founded by the late Robert Mondavi.

The plan would allow the 12-acre complex on the Napa River to be sold and possibly reopen as a wine education, conference and visitor center.

Copia, also called the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, shut its doors last November after running out of cash. The nonprofit owes more than $78 million to bondholders and other creditors.

Its assets, including wine, artwork and real estate, are worth $25 to $35 million, according to estimates in bankruptcy filings.

Under the liquidation plan, unsecured creditors would receive about 13 cents on the dollar. They include Copia’s vendors, suppliers and service providers.

Ex-employees with claims for unpaid wages and people who left deposits for classes and events that were canceled when the facility closed are expected to receive the full amount of what they’re owed.

Secured creditors, including Copia’s bondholders, would share the proceeds from a sale of the property.

The city of Napa and a downtown business group, the Coalition to Preserve Copia, are in talks with Copia’s bond insurer about acquiring the location, which includes 80,000 square feet of buildings.

The coalition has suggested using it as a wine-and-food-oriented visitor and conference center.

The Culinary Institute of America, which operates a cooking school in St. Helena, is interested in leasing all or part of the property for its programs, according to bankruptcy court documents.

The votes counted so far overwhelmingly favor the liquidation plan, said John MacConaghy, Copia’s bankruptcy attorney.

Copia opened in 2001 with a $25 million donation from Mondavi, and later raised about $20 million from supporters.

It offered wine and food classes, art exhibits, gardens and Julia’s Kitchen, an upscale restaurant named for legendary chef — and honorary Copia trustee — Julia Child.

Copia attracted more than a million visitors but struggled financially, losing at least $5 million each year, according to bankruptcy documents. It was hampered by a hard-to-find location, an ill-defined mission and a lack of retail opportunities.

The nonprofit declared bankruptcy in December.

After six months of wrangling in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Rosa, Copia and its bond insurer, ACA Financial Guaranty Corp., agreed last month on a plan to liquidate Copia’s assets.

On July 7, Judge Alan Jaroslovsky ordered the plan submitted to Copia’s creditors for a vote. Friday is the deadline to return ballots.

Jaroslovsky will hold a hearing on the liquidation plan Aug. 14.

Meanwhile, one creditor group is objecting to the proposal. San Francisco attorney William McGrane, who has filed a federal class action suit accusing Copia’s lenders of mishandling a 2007 deal to refinance the center, said the liquidation plan benefits ACA at the expense of other Copia creditors.

MacConaghy said he doesn’t expect the objection will hold up Copia’s liquidation.