Issa declared bankrupt

PROPERTY developer Bashar Issa, the chief executive of three companies that went into administration owing tens of millions of pounds last year, has been declared bankrupt.

The bankruptcy order, granted at the end of March, follows a petition by out of pocket creditors in September 2008.

Mr Issa is chief executive of BS Construction, BS Development and Issa Developments, all of which went into administration in May and July of last year owing a combined £44.5m to the banks, with a further £4m owed to unsecured creditors.

All three companies are now being run by administrators at KPMG.

A spokesperson for KPMG said it was in talks with several parties over the sale of the assets.

These include Issa Quay – a 12-storey serviced apartment block on Dale Street in Manchester; the 21-storey residential Sarah Tower on Lena Street; and mixed-use scheme Sarah Point on Great Ancoats Street.

“We have three parties interested in acquiring Issa Quay and hope to have final offers from them in the next week or so.

“There are two parties who are interested in Sarah Tower, and finally, we’ve had some interest in Sarah Point, but the site is still being marketed by Knight Frank,” said the spokesperson.