Crescent Resources, a 40-year-old real-estate developer owned by Duke Energy Corp. and Morgan Stanley's real-estate fund unit, said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Charlotte, NC-based Crescent, with more than 35 residential and commercial projects under development, mostly in the Southeast, also said chief executive Arthur Fields was stepping down. Andrew Hede, chief restructuring officer and a managing director with Alvarez & Marsal North America, will succeed him.

Current Crescent projects include Palmetto Bluff, a luxury second-home development in South Carolina; and Phipps Tower, an Atlanta office tower it is developing in a venture with Manulife Financial Corp., a Canadian insurer.

The company said the bankruptcy filing would have 'minimal impact' on continuing projects thanks to $110m in new financing from its existing lenders, including Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp.

Wall Street Journal