Sale of former Chinese Laundry building approved

The sale of the former Chinese Laundry building has been approved.

The building, owned by El Paso businessman Billy Abraham, is located on 212 W. Overland within the planned downtown arena footprint.

The city explored the option of eminent domain to acquire the building after Abraham filed for bankruptcy before a planned auction of his properties in February.

A hearing was held Thursday at the federal courthouse to discuss the sale of the building. Billy Abraham, his trustee Ronald Engalls and Broker Mark Hall walked out of the courthouse together following the hearing Thursday.

Engalls, who was appointed to help with Abraham’s bankruptcy, hired Hall, who is based in Austin, to help sell 20-30 of Abraham’s properties. The question at hand was whether Hall should get commission on bids already placed. Hall was already working on sales, but there were issues with the percentage of commission he would receive. A judge decided to split the commission.

The judge also ruled on the sale of the former Chinese Laundry building. Abraham initially entered a contract to sell the property to the City of El Paso but in March the city said they would explore the possibility of eminent domain because Abraham had not been able to deliver the property free and clear of liens.

The sale of the Chinese Laundry building was approved for $855,000 plus another $19,000 for relocation fees that the city paid to relocate tenants who lived there.

“The sale of the Nortena was approved and we’re working towards emerging from bankruptcy and making sure all the creditors get paid,” Abraham told ABC-7.

Now that the broker has been assigned, Engalls will need to decide on a plan to sell the properties which could include an auction.