Palmetto Bluff, Oldfield developer considers bankruptcy

The owners of Crescent Resources, whose developments include Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton and Oldfield in Okatie, have been contemplating bankruptcy.

Crescent spokesman Chuck Burgess said this week the Charlotte development company owned by Duke Energy hasn't decided if it will file for bankruptcy protection. It's too early to tell how a bankruptcy filing, if it occurs, might affect the local developments, Burgess said.

"The company is still evaluating a number of alternatives," he said. "It's a little premature for us to speculate."

Duke Energy executives said last month a bankruptcy filing was possible as Crescent struggles with a slumping market and $1.4 billion in debt.

Duke created the company in 1969 to manage its surplus land. It sold a 49-percent stake in Crescent to

Morgan Stanley Real Estate in 2006.

Backed by thousands of acres it owned around Duke Energy's lakes in North Carolina and South Carolina, Crescent once was one of the power utility's most profitable subsidiaries. The company expanded into booming states that later were hit hard by the real estate market's collapse.

It has projects in 10 states in the Southeast and Southwest, according to its Web site.

In 2008, the company reported a net loss of $420 million on $407 million in revenue, compared with a net income of $76 million the year before, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Staff writer Josh McCann and The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.