Developer's Tennessee project sued for defaulting

The point man for Glacier Town Center has been sued in Tennessee for allegedly defaulting on a $2 million loan.

The Cornerstone Community Bank of Chattanooga, Tenn., filed a Feb. 13 lawsuit against Chad and Lindsay Wolford for defaulting on $1.982 million of a $2 million loan for them to set up a jewelry store and art gallery, according to the filed complaint.

Chad Wolford is vice president of Wolford Development, which is putting together the massive Glacier Town Center mall, commercial and residential project in northern Kalispell.

Chad Wolford - son of corporation president Bucky Wolford - has been the public face for Glacier Town Center in meetings in Kalispell in recent years.

There has been no indication that the problems of the upscale store - called The W Gallery - are legally or financially linked to Wolford Development or to Glacier Town Center.

The W Gallery and Wolford Development are located in the same building in Chattanooga.

Several attempts to reach Wolford or an appropriate Wolford Development official Monday were unsuccessful. Glacier Town Center's local attorney Ken Kalvig was unaware Monday of the Tennessee litigation, and declined to comment.

Cornerstone Community Bank's complaint alleges that it lent $2 million to Chad and his wife, Lindsay Wolford, on Dec. 14, 2007, to open The W Gallery as a retail store for jewelry, porcelain, china, silver and other collectible gifts.

The 5,100-square-foot store opened in May 2008 and Lindsay Wolford described it as having good Christmas season business, according to stories from the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

The Wolfords had until Feb. 6 to repay the entire loan, the bank's complaint said.

Chad Wolford told the bank's representatives that the gallery intends to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, the complaint said.

A Hamilton County, Tenn., judge granted the bank's request to seize the jewelry that was the collateral for the loan, and sheriff's deputies did so on Feb. 13, the Times-Free Press reported.

The bank also obtained a court order to keep The W Gallery closed until the litigation is resolved, the paper reported.

Wolford told the Times-Free Press last month that the gallery had made all payments on the loan and had been negotiating to renew it, but the bank wanted more collateral.

"To force the closing of a new and growing business merely because the bank wished to increase its collateral is certainly discouraging to any new business enterprise that desires to open in Chattanooga," Wolford told the Times-Free Press two weeks ago.

Wolford also said he and his wife would decide whether to reopen the gallery in coming weeks.

Kalispell annexed the 485-acre Glacier Town Center site in January 2008.

At the same time, the City Council approved a preliminary plat for 191 of those acres to create 37 lots that are supposed to hold commercial buildings, including a 550,000-square-foot outdoor shopping complex, anchored by three stores of roughly 100,000 square feet each. One lot is to be set aside for a community center

Last year, Wolford Development had hoped to break ground on construction in the summer of 2008. So far, no city building permits have been issued for the project.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com