David Tepper's Real Estate Company Offers $82M Payment over Failed Practice Facility

GT Real Estate Holdings LLC, a company led by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, has proposed a settlement of just over $100 million to contractors, creditors and local governments related to failed plans to build a practice facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal reported Thursday the offer includes an initial $81.7 million payment and $20 million from the future sale of the proposed site.

The plan will require approval from courts and creditors, per Steve Reed of the Associated Press.

In June, GT Real Estate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the $800 million plan to create a new Panthers practice facility along with retail shops, restaurants and a hotel fell through, according to Joseph Person and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.

The company has continued to work toward a settlement arrangement while bankruptcy hearings have been delayed until at least September.

GT Real Estate released a statement as part of Thursday's offer, saying the money for the initial payment was made available from DT Sports Holding, another company owned by Tepper, per Spanberg:

"This plan reflects GTRE's promise to expeditiously resolve all claims and make payments to its creditors, including to York County and the city of Rock Hill. GTRE now has a clear path to emerge from bankruptcy made possible by substantial commitments from DT Sports Holding, which has made available to GTRE more than $82 million in cash in an effort to bring this process to an orderly and equitable conclusion. GTRE believes that the plan is in the best interests of its creditors and anticipates that a hearing to consider approval of the plan will occur in October of this year."

The site had already undergone 20 months of construction before plans were halted.

Tepper purchased the Panthers in May 2018 for just under $2.3 billion, which at the time was the highest price paid for an NFL franchise. He was previously a stakeholder in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Forbes estimates the 64-year-old Pittsburgh native has a net worth of $16.7 billion, which makes him the 105th-richest person in the world, after founding the Appaloosa Management hedge fund.

Tepper has refused to discuss the failed project, saying in April he'd "respect the city's request not to have a back-and-forth in public about it."