Cedar Haven owner files for Chapter 11 in pursuit of facility sale; hearing scheduled

Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC, operator of the 430-bed Cedar Haven Facility at 590 S. 5th Ave. in South Lebanon Township, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy filing on Friday, Jan. 16, had been anticipated since a hearing earlier in January when attorneys for Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC reached an agreement with attorneys for 590 South 5th Avenue LLC, owner of the building and real estate, and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), the skilled nursing home’s largest creditor, to keep Cedar Haven open past Jan. 31 and preserve DHS’s rights, but allow for a sale coupled with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy that would keep the facility open.

590 South 5th Avenue LLC filed a lawsuit against Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC in October claiming it was owed $1,400,000 in overdue rent. As allowed by the lease agreement, a receiver was appointed by Lebanon County Judge Charles Jones on Oct. 30. Receivership allows an outside party to take over a company’s operations, including dealing with creditors and, if justified, looking for a buyer and filing for bankruptcy.

Jones has made clear to the parties that the imperative is keeping Cedar Haven open.

Cedar Haven has approximately 250 residents at present.

Following the January hearing, Cedar Haven’s attorney, Mark Felger, confirmed that a sale with a connected bankruptcy was possible “within a few weeks.” Another hearing in the 590 South 5th Avenue LLC lawsuit against Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22, but it may not be held given last week’s bankruptcy filing.

According to the bankruptcy filing, Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC is seeking to use its cash collateral to continue operating and providing service to facility residents, and it intends to sell the business.

“The Debtor is seeking to maintain its assets so as to maximize the value to be achieved from a sale of the Debtor’s assets,” reads the filing. “The Debtor also needs to maintain the health and safety of its Residents as well as provide for the care of the Residents which will enhance and maximize the value of the sale of the Debtor’s assets.”

According to the filing, Cedar Haven has 320 employees. The filing says the facility may still be forced to close and that without use of the cash collateral it currently has on hand – about $1.3 million – “the Debtor is not certain it will have the ability to move such residents.” Another filing says that the facility’s weekly payroll is approximately $750,000.

“The health care industry is highly competitive as to employees,” reads the exhibit. “If the employees do not timely receive their pay and have appropriate Employee Benefit payments made, the employees may leave the employ of the Debtor and proceed to be employed elsewhere.”

Still, the filing states that “the Debtor believes it can operate on a profitable basis.”

A projected income statement included with the filings shows anticipated losses of more than $100,000 monthly.

According to the bankruptcy filing, Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC owes $3,587,890.79 to DHS, $760,000 to Stone Barn Holdings Inc., and $196,185.12 to Stone Barn Holdings. Those sums are believed to be in addition to the over $1 million sought by 590 South 5th Avenue LLC in delinquent rent.

The underlying relationship between Arba, 590 South 5th Avenue LLC, and the Stone Barn entities was not immediately clear. Other court documents state that Blalack is the sole or controlling owner of Cedar Haven Acquisition along with its parent company, Stone Barn Holdings LLC., and the facility’s manager, Stone Barn Management LLC.

Blalack also had a sole or controlling interest in Fremont Lake LLC, previously Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC’s primary collateral-holding lender, but as of Dec. 30, 2025, the Arba Group owns that loan and has agreed to allowing the firm to use its cash collateral, in addition to having extended a line of $2 million credit.

The bankruptcy filing indicates that Cedar Haven Acquisition LLC is delinquent in rent payments to Arba, not 590 South 5th Avenue LLC.

A hearing on the bankruptcy motions is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania at the Sylvia H. Rambo United States Courthouse in Harrisburg.

Cedar Haven was owned and operated by Lebanon County until 2013.