A massive portfolio of properties owned by Roseville developer Abe Alizadeh is expected to be offered for sale at auction in December, an initial step to melt some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt he owes.

Alizadeh filed for bankruptcy protection last year for his cornerstone real estate development business, Kobra Properties Inc., claiming at least $277 million in debts.

The auction, if approved by a federal bankruptcy court judge, is set for Dec. 8 and will offer for sale 31 of about 80 properties in the Kobra Properties portfolio.

A court-appointed trustee overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings has not been able to negotiate settlements on liens or debts on the other 49 properties in order to offer them for auction, which means those could eventually go into foreclosure.

The breadth and scale of Alizadeh's real estate empire and his subsequent debt are astounding even to veterans of bankruptcy proceedings.

"The number of valuable real estate projects that were being operated by Kobra Properties is unique," said Donald Fitzgerald, the Sacramento attorney who represents the court-appointed trustee.

For a small company like the one run by Alizadeh, who was in business with two siblings, to have racked up so many loans is another signature mark of the real estate boom in the first half of the decade, Fitzgerald said.

"To have obtained financing from institutional lenders of upward of $400 million? Clearly, the lending criteria are different now," he said.

Alizadeh originally claimed in court documents that his Kobra properties were worth nearly $600 million.

"That amount is proving a gross overvaluation," said Fitzgerald, who represents Steven Victor, the appointed trustee.

In court documents, Victor concludes that virtually all of the Kobra properties are carrying more debt than they are worth.

Alizadeh gained local celebrity as an Iranian immigrant who worked his way up from a fast-food worker in the 1970s to a real estate mogul who owned 70 Jack in the Boxes in Northern California and other restaurants, including all the T.G.I. Friday's restaurants in the Sacramento region. His property development company gobbled up commercial real estate during the boom, primarily in South Placer County.

But then he began halting work on unfinished projects, including an office building in downtown Roseville, and he was battled in court by dozens of construction firms and other creditors. His restaurant business, Kobra Associates, which operates the Jack in the Box restaurants, filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

The Kobra Properties business owned several of the buildings where the Jack in the Box and T.G.I. Friday's restaurants operate, making Alizadeh both tenant and landlord.

All the T.G.I. Friday's restaurants Alizadeh operated closed under court order in September after the parent company sued for overdue franchise fees.

Fitzgerald said the sale of the buildings should not affect operations at any still-operating restaurants, but he said it is unclear how it would affect the closed restaurants.

Liquidating Kobra Properties begins with a complicated, court-monitored bankruptcy auction. The trustee has set up an auction and obtained what is called a "stalking horse," a party that submits an acceptable initial bid.

Vectura Capital Ltd., a British company, has bid about $10 million for eight of the properties, which include Jack in the Box sites in Rancho Cordova, Rocklin and Red Bluff and a T.G.I. Friday's in Lincoln.

As a stalking horse, Vectura has set a baseline price that the trustee hopes will be topped by other qualified parties, who can bid on one or all of the eight properties. The goal is to also receive acceptable bids on the other 23 properties up for auction. These include other Jack in the Box outlets in the Sacramento area and the T.G.I. Friday's restaurant on Howe Avenue.

Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.