Bank Buys Amph. At Wharf

Regions Bank has bought 10,000-capacity Amphitheatre at the Wharf in Orange Beach, Ala., for $18 million in a pair of foreclosure auctions.

The Sept. 13 purchase was the first step in dismantling the troubled development. Regions Bank also bought from the developers the nearby marina and 178 acres around the area, according to the Mobile Press-Register.

Regions loaned developers AIG Baker Shopping Center Properties more than $49 million five years ago to construct portions of the 222-acre project; the bank’s bids will reduce AIG Baker’s obligations by 18.16 million, according to the paper.

BBVA Compass loaned AIG Baker $73.1 million in 2005 and has listed for sale 90 unsold condominiums at the Wharf’s Levin’s Bend tower and the development’s convention center, which is going for $3 million, the paper said.

This year the Amphitheatre at the Wharf has hosted Widespread Panic, Tim McGraw, Sugarland and John Mayer, among others.