Financially embattled developer Brian Anderson is seeking bankruptcy protection for another of his companies, some three months after a foreclosure lawsuit was filed against it.

On Friday Anderson petitioned for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization for his Anekona LLC, a company that was sued in March over a $17.2 million mortgage on the Coconut Grove Marketplace in Kailua, Kona, on the Big Island.

The bankruptcy is the second by a company linked to the developer whose real estate fortunes have sunk, in part because of the credit crunch and a downturn in real estate markets. Anderson late last month sought Chapter 11 protection for his Anekona W LLC, owner of the 50-room Lotus at the Diamond Head hotel.

In addition, there's been at least five foreclosure actions filed against Anderson, including one on 203 condominium and commercial units at the Ilikai hotel that went to auction in May to secure $73 million owed lender iStar Financial.

Anderson didn't immediately return a telephone message left at his office yesterday, while his bankruptcy attorney William H. Gilardy Jr., declined comment. The filing listed Anekona's estimated assets and liabilities as totaling between $10 million and $50 million.

Anderson's involvement with the Coconut Grove Marketplace, a complex on Ali'i Drive, dates back to 1988, when he began development work on the project.

According to Colliers Monroe Friedlander, work on the multiple-buildings comprising the center was completed over a six-year period starting in 1998.

Today, the resort-oriented complex has a vacancy rate of 7.4 percent, said Mike Hamasu, Colliers research and consulting director.

A foreclosure lawsuit was filed against Anekona LLC in March by an affiliate of a Florida-based investment firm, LNR Partners Inc., which alleges Anekona defaulted on a loan in November.

The lawsuit asks that the property be auctioned and also seeks $1.7 million from Anderson because of a loan guarantee.