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Hecker's Brainerd dealership remains in limbo

Last update: October 29, 2009 - 8:24 PM

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A day after a bankruptcy judge shot down its proposed sale, the fate of the shuttered Denny Hecker Toyota/Scion dealership in the Brainerd area remains uncertain.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., which ran the dealership for months after Hecker defaulted on loans, shut the showroom and laid off about 35 employees Sept. 5. Toyota had set a deadline of Oct. 22 for an asset sale to get court approval, then extended that date by a week.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel surprised Toyota by rejecting a sales agreement Wednesday that would have let Hecker sell the dealership's cars, parts and other non-real-estate assets to Twin Cities auto dealer Paul Walser for about $3 million. Toyota officials are considering their next move for what many auto dealers describe as a highly coveted franchise.

"There are a number of options, but at this point we are just going to wait and see what transpires," said Toyota spokesman John McCandless.

Tim Peters, one of several attorneys representing Toyota Motor Credit Corp., said Thursday, "I think it's everybody's hope that some deal gets done at some point ... there's a judge that we are going to have to make happy.''

No one wins, Peters said, by "this thing just dying on the vine."

Kressel balked after learning that the federal bankruptcy trustee was largely left out of negotiations between Hecker and Walser until late in the deal. The judge also questioned the $750,000 consulting fee that Walser had agreed to pay Hecker as part of the deal.

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