Protective Capital Structures Corp. (fka PCSO)

[neilhk]

Posted this link a while back, but thought I'd repost it for the DD hounds out there. This is from May 2007......found it interesting for the two points I've highlighted in bold below.....firstly, the naming of the LLC mentioned (Arendell North LLC) being similar to those names used by RELM...... and for the last sentence about them (GSR) going public........it could be that Whichard and his company are selling GSR outright, but I also wonder whether the deal involves refinancing and they are still involved somehow.....Whichard's has another family company that is heavily into shopping malls if I remember correctly.....so could be a connection there too imo.

http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2007/05/28/story12.html

Reno casino buyer scoops up Zebulon land for development

Forget that. But a few eyebrows were raised when the owners of the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev., on May 11 were involved in the purchase of 45 acres of pastureland next to the Zebulon water tower on the north side of town.

There are strong local ties in this deal.

Ken Whichard, president of Whichard Real Estate in Raleigh, confirms that his family and investment partners paid almost $6.5 million for the Zebulon property through a partnership called Arendell North LLC.

Whichard's family is majority owner of Grand Sierra Resort Corp., the group that purchased the largest hotel property in Reno in 2006 in addition to making other real estate investments around the country.

Whichard says he has no immediate plans to develop the Zebulon property, and he is working with a land planner to determine the best use of the terrain.

"We will develop it, and we're getting a lot of ideas from people in the area," he says, "but we don't have formal details at this point." Likely, he says, development would include commercial space, including retail, but it could be months before plans are filed with the town. The property is adjacent to 32 acres that Davidson & Jones Residential of Raleigh acquired in June 2006 for a future residential community.

In the meantime, Whichard is focusing most of his attention on the redevelopment of the Reno property, formerly the Reno Hilton, which the group bought from Harrah's Entertainment in June 2006 for about $150 million.

Grand Sierra and its investment partners have spent more than $200 million on the hotel and its renovation, which includes converting nearly half of its 2,000 hotel rooms into hotel-condominiums and an overhaul of its restaurants, convention center and other facilities.

Grand Sierra Resort Corp. is a private company, but Whichard says the company is working to go public late this year or early in 2008.

GLTA