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One of the co-owners of a legally entangled Indianapolis development firm that has been ordered to cease operations has partnered with two of the company’s employees to start a new business.
Chris Seger, who has long overseen Pure Development along with co-founder Drew Sanders, on Thursday announced the launch of Canopy 5. The Indianapolis-headquartered firm is a partnership between Seger and longtime Pure executives Brian Palmer and Adam Seger, who is Chris’ brother.
Both of the Segers and Palmer are considered founders of the company, with Chris Seger serving as CEO, Adam Seger as chief growth officer and Palmer as chief operating officer. Ownership stakes for each of the men were not made public.
The company will have regional offices in Dallas, Denver and Charleston, South Carolina, and focus on commercial projects in the office, industrial, manufacturing and urban mixed-use sectors. Its portfolio is expected to consist of build-to-suit and speculative development projects.
Pure last month was ordered to wind down operations by a judge following a months-long lawsuit between Seger and Sanders, with expectations a receiver would be appointed to manage the company and its projects—or to find a willing buyer. The pair founded Pure in late 2012 after working as executives on real estate development together at Duke Realty Corp. in the 1990s and 2000s. The company became one of central Indiana’s largest commercial development firms.
A final verdict in the case, affirming the dissolution order, was issued Monday by the Madison County Circuit Court, although Sanders on Tuesday filed a notice of appeal.
The decision comes after Seger last July sued Sanders in a bid to win control of the company, claiming that the latter had forced the departure of key staff, put hundreds of millions of dollars in potential business at risk and prevented the company from making other personnel and strategy changes.
The lawsuit stemmed in part from Sanders spurning Seger’s efforts to further grow the company’s ownership structure. Seger sought to bring in Adam Seger and Palmer, both of whom were longtime principals in the company, as investors with 5% common stock in Pure to match their profit interest in the firm’s operations.
Sanders filed a counterclaim alleging a breach of fiduciary duty by Seger and abuse of process, claiming he was being pushed out of the business without having the opportunity for adequate financial relief.
Pure has been involved in several major projects in central Indiana, including the Box Factory project on Massachusetts Avenue and the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Boone County.
Madison County Judge Mark Dudley, who oversaw both suits, dismissed Sanders’ claim, stating he considered Seger’s moves to be within the bounds of his fiduciary duty to the company. He also generally ruled in favor of Seger’s request for dissolution of the company.
While Seger initially asked for the appointment of a receiver in the matter, he later offered a separate solution that would have had the new Canopy 5 firm inherit Pure Development’s portfolio and pipeline.
The developer proposed having Dudley oversee the new company for one year and be provided quarterly financial reports. In his request, Seger said transferring the projects to Canopy 5 would prevent default clauses in certain project contracts from being triggered.
But Dudley found that resolution to be an “inequitable” solution, rejecting it in favor of the receivership plan. The judge separately rejected a remedy proposed by Sanders, which sought a $65 million buyout of his stake in the company. (Seger had unsuccessfully attempted to buy out Sanders’s stake in the past, according to court records.)
“The court’s determination to appoint a receiver provides a result which places each owner on equal footing in the real estate development industry while also providing for an orderly completion of the current projects, subsequent distributions and disposal of assets,” the judge’s order said.
Canopy 5 was legally formed May 15, according to state business records.
“At Canopy 5, integrity and commitment are at our core,” Chris Seger said in written remarks. “We’re here to honor our clients, our team and the communities we serve by building spaces and relationships that inspire growth and connection. We are also firmly committed to seeing all active Pure Development projects through to completion.”
The company’s name is connected to its desire to “build environments where life flourishes” and to the concept of Level 5 Leadership from corporate adviser and educator Jim Collins, according to a news release.
While the company indicated it hopes to inherit Pure’s pipeline, its mechanism for doing so wasn’t immediately clear.
Pure currently has 28 projects in its development pipeline, including 13 in Indiana. It also has projects in Arkansas, California Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas, according to court filings.
The company, which as of May employed about 30 people at its Indianapolis and Denver offices, ranked as the 10th largest commercial real estate development firm in central Indiana, according to IBJ research, with 3,664,000 square feet of developments completed or under construction in 2024.
More information about Canopy 5’s efforts to build its development pipeline—and efforts to inherit Pure’s projects—is expected to be made public in the coming weeks.
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