Bankrupt developer reports assets worth $53 million in filing

Steven Molasky, a son of real estate developer Irwin Molasky, lived the good life before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month -- if his assets are any indication.

After filing the bankruptcy petition, he reported $53 million in assets and $107 million in liabilities on May 29.

While Molasky pursued a variety of business interests, he primarily is a real estate developer and yet another example of how the credit crunch is hammering real estate businesspeople.

Creditors got a chance to question him at a bankruptcy hearing Thursday, but the financial report answers many questions about Molasky's personal and business affairs.

He held prime property along the Southern California coast, a one-third interest in a racehorse, interests in two independent movies, a $2.8 million investment in a partially complete sculpture, a collection of guitars, a magazine and television show production company and an unrestored 1968 Ford Shelby.

His most valuable holdings are land and improvements on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., that are worth an estimated $30 million but are collateral for $26 million in loans.

Molasky also owns an incomplete sculpture for which he has paid internationally known artist Michael Heizer $2.8 million so far. The value of the incomplete work is unknown, and Molasky reported it would be "costly to disassemble, move and reassemble." The agreement prohibits the sale of the artwork and requires that it be donated to an institution approved by the artist, but bankruptcy judges have the authority to void some contracts.

The subject of a 2005 cover story in The New York Times Magazine, Heizer typically makes giant sculptures, including "Double Negative," two 50-foot-deep cuts into the barren landscape near Overton, and "Circular Planar Displacement," which has overlapping circles cut into a dry lake bed at Jean.

The sculpture Heizer is making for Molasky isn't described in the filing. Molasky also owns paintings valued at $150,000 but only $14,000 in jewelry and $5,000 in clothing.

Molasky has a one-third interest in a racehorse named Wizzen Mizzen, a 4-year-old chestnut filly apparently bought for $10,000.

The developer also was executive producer of "Sex and Breakfast," a 2007 movie about young couples who try group sex that starred Macaulay Culkin. He invested in "Shine On," a romantic thriller which the Internet Movie Database, IMDb.com, reports is in production.

Molasky owns an interest in the Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace on the Strip and has a 99 percent, $297,000 interest in a company that owns a private airport hangar at McCarran International Airport.

He is majority owner of Copyright Media Corp., which produces a free magazine called "Around Your Home" and "Around Your Home TV." The program runs on KTUD-TV, Channel 24, and cable Channel 14.

OneCap Mortgage President Vince Hesser and Molasky are officers and directors of the media company, a Securities and Exchange Commission report shows. Creditors include investors who made loans that were secured by real estate and which OneCap originated.

Molasky's personal property includes two "Spendthrift" trusts that aren't property of the bankrupt estate, according to the bankruptcy filing. The values of the trust holdings are not shown.

Other properties include a $65,000 2007 Ford Shelby and a 1968 Ford Shelby, which needs repair but is worth $125,000. Molasky reports about $69,000 in bank accounts.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.