A prominent apartment builder has filed for bankruptcy and seemingly closed its doors, leaving several local subcontractors holding unpaid six- and seven-figure invoices.

The phone number for Martines Palmeiro Construction was disconnected last week and its website and LinkedIn page were removed from the internet. Though Chapter 11 allows companies to continue operating, it is unclear if Martines Palmeiro can or will.

The general contractor was founded in 2008 by three partners: Michael Martines, Cory Palmeiro and Tony Lajimodiere, according to past media reports. The company grew as Denver did in the 2010s, completing Industry RiNo Station and dozens of other projects in this area.

Martines and Lajimodiere did not return BusinessDen’s phone calls and emails this week.

“I don’t know what happened,” Palmeiro says. “I was a partner there but I sold my interests almost three years ago. So, I have not been associated with the business at all.”

“I really couldn’t speak to it because I don’t know anything about it,” the founder added.

Martines Palmeiro Construction has provided only scant financial figures to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court thus far. Those few numbers paint a bleak picture of the business.

The company has less than $50,000 in assets and owes somewhere between $10 million and $50 million to more than 100 creditors. A list of its 20 largest unsecured creditors shows that it owes $10.7 million to those companies alone. All 20 are subcontractors or vendors.

Four Star Drywall and Landtech Contractors, two Aurora companies, are each owed $1.2 million, according to Martines Palmeiro. They and their lawyers declined to comment. So did Freund Plumbing and Heating, which is also in Aurora and is owed $720,000.

Martines Palmeiro has been sued 14 times since the start of 2024 and has settled half of those cases. Among the ongoing lawsuits, the developer of a 385-unit apartment complex in Littleton is accusing it of poor plumbing, a restoration subcontractor seeks $370,000, a sprinkler installer is suing for $350,000, and a glass company wants to be paid about $48,000.

MPC’s bankruptcy attorney is Jeffrey Weinman at Allen Vellone Wolf Helfrich & Factor.