Jennis Law Files Chapter 11 For Leestma Management/Adelaide Pointe
April 7, 2026
For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Ben Eason – Media/Communications Specialist, Jennis Law (813) 956-4198 ben@thenetworkedplanet.com
David Jennis, Esq. — Lead bankruptcy counsel, Jennis Law, 606 East Madison Street, Tampa, Florida 33602. (813) 229-2800 djennis@jennislaw.com
Tampa, FL – Our firm filed Case No. 8:26-bk-02696, in the Middle District of Florida, on April 1, 2026 on behalf of the debtors, Leestma Management, LLC (the parent Florida LLC formed January 26, 2017), Adelaide Pointe QOZB LLC (the primary campus operating entity, a Qualified Opportunity Zone Business), Adelaide Pointe Boater Services LLC, Adelaide Pointe Building 1 LLC, and Waterland Battle Creek, LLC. All entities are jointly administered under Case No. 8:26-bk-02696.
Total Enterprise assets in this case are approximately $91,000,000 and the total Enterprise liabilities are approximately $61,000,000.
“This is an unusual case for a Chapter 11 filing because typically a business enters bankruptcy with assets well below the overall debt,” says Dave Jennis. “We have an issue where one lender has taken partial control of a multi-entity project and is placing its interest above those of other creditors, the owners of the condos at Adelaide Pointe, and the clients and tenants of the overall project. The bankruptcy filing will restore an orderly process to serve the interest of all the stakeholders – not just look after the interests of Independent Bank.”
“It is important to note that Chapter 11 proceedings have not included the wet marina, dry marina, multi-use building, Muskegon Brewing Company or Adelaide Events. Chapter 11 proceedings have been solely focused on assets Independent Bank has collateral on. This is a unique situation where a growing and thriving set of companies has sought relief from a single secured creditor intent on serving their own interests at the expense of everyone else.”
The Debtor
Ryan Leestma and Leestma Management, LLC, a Florida-based corporation established in 2017, conceived, funded and built Adelaide Pointe, a 30-acre mixed-use waterfront development on the south shore of Muskegon Lake, Michigan. The project was built from a brownfield parcel into an attractive and popular regional destination at a cost of approximately $85 million which created approximately $300 million of trickle-down economic activity within the Great Lakes region. The project encompasses a 169-slip wet marina, a 285-slip dry marina, approximately 225,000 square feet of commercial warehouse space that houses boat storage and flex industrial tenants, a boater services building complete with a ship store, a four-story commercial building housing Muskegon Brewing Company and Adelaide Events Center and 55 luxury waterfront condominium units. The enterprise employs over 200 permanent and seasonal workers, will contribute approximately $3,000,000 annually to the Muskegon County tax base when fully occupied across all uses, and held its grand opening in May 2024. The Adelaide Pointe stabilizing assets including the wet marina, dry marina and warehouse space is growing at approximately 50% per year. The marina season begins each May. Current Enterprise EBITDA is approximately $4,500,000 annually, with projections of stabilized EBITDA exceeding $6,500,000 within 24 months (not including condo sales). The project got slightly off track in its early stages when the brownfield cleanup required $2,700,000 in additional early funds. Independent Bank stepped in to offer to cover the liabilities. Leestma Management, LLC has been a very well-funded company and put $28,000,000 of its own capital to get the project started.
The Principal Secured Lender
Independent Bank is a CRE-concentrated community bank based in Ionia, MI. holding approximately $27,500,000 in total claims across five separate loan positions: the condominium construction line ($14,400,000), warehouses ($7,900,000), boater services ($1,500,000), Hall Street second mortgage ($3,350,000), and Commerce Street ($750,000). The loans that Independent Bank holds are roughly half of all outstanding debt on the Enterprise although the capital it has at risk is substantially less due to the USDA Rural Business and Industry guarantees issued by the Federal government.
In IBCP’s 2025 annual report (Form 10-K filed March 6, 2026 with the SEC) the bank explicitly identified CRE concentration as a risk factor, stating that its loans secured by commercial real estate totaled approximately $1.055 billion, representing approximately 24.7% of its total loan portfolio. Regulatory agencies have increased their scrutiny of CRE lending concentrations over the past 12 months.
Said Dave Jennis: “Independent Bank forced the Enterprise and entities that hold Independent Bank collateral into bankruptcy at the expense of the Secondary Lenders, 4Front Credit Union, ChoiceOne, Westshore Bank and the US Dept of Agriculture which backs the loans held by all secured creditors. We believe actions taken by Independent Bank created the liquidity crisis that was then used to plead to the State District Court for a receivership. Ultimately that appointment resulted in a receiver looking solely at the interest of Independent and led to mismanagement, work stoppages and threatened critical operations of the Company that pertain to the project as a whole. The Debtors filed to mitigate the risks that Independent Bank is causing across the Enterprise.”
Next steps in the filing:
- Leestma Management, LLC is in talks with lenders to secure $10,000,000 in funds to complete the project as part of DIP financing.
- Initial hearing with Judge Caryl E. Delano, US Bankruptcy Judge, Middle District of Florida.
- Establishing Leestma Management, LLC and Adelaide Pointe QOZB, LLC management as the principal operator of assets included in proceedings with a court-appointed Chief Restructuring Officer to complete the project.
- All actions against the assets are stayed by the filing of the Chapter 11 cases resulting in the automatic stay.
- All employees will be paid, and all vendors deemed eligible by the Courts will be paid.
- All vendors owed money and lenders as of the date of the bankruptcy will be treated as creditors and paid what they are owed as part of the reorganization.