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North Padre Island Schlitterbahn Park Taken at Auction by IBC Bank

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Tony Maples Photography

 

The North Padre Island Schlitterbahn Riverpark & Resort has changed ownership in a recent foreclosure auction that saw IBC Bank take responsibility for the park, which was $32 million in debt. In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News, reported on by KWTX, it was stated by Jon Lowe, the San Antonio lawyer who conducted the auction, that the bank made a “credit bid” for $20 million as the sole bidder for the failing Schlitterbahn park.

A recent comment made by IBC CEO Dennis Nixon is that the bank, which is based in Laredo, has interest in finding a new owner for the park fairly quickly. Coming just one year after the Schlitterbahn Riverpark & Resort filed bankruptcy, the auction officially relieves its principals (Gary Henry and Jeffrey Henry, and Paul Schexnailder) of the park’s ownership. In March, a grand jury indicted Jeffrey Henry on charges of second-degree murder connected with the death of a 10-year-old boy on a slide at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City water park in 2016.

IBC Bank Takes Ownership of North Padre Island Schlitterbahn Park at Auction

Photo: Maxpixel

In December of 2017, it was reported that the North Padre Island park faced a February foreclosure pending a potential property deal. Schlitterbahn has been the go-to name in Texas water parks for years, and the idea that one of them was in financial trouble was practically unthinkable. However, at the time, a report from Chron.com indicated that “Austin lender Axys Capital Credit Fund received court approval last week to foreclose on the 270 acres, collateral for about $16 million in loans made to Upper Padre Partners — the development partnership.” In conjunction, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times stated that there had been a number of liens placed on the property since 2016, coupled with the financial difficulties and construction setbacks the park had faced from its outset.