His home for sale, Hastings says he’s fine

“I heard that, and two weeks ago I got calls that [Red Sox pitcher] Tim Wakefield had bought my house. Not true,’’ Hastings said. “I think some people need more cable channels to occupy their imagination.’’

It is true, though, that his home is on the market, asking price $8.4 million. And though Hastings - one of Hingham’s most controversial and prolific high-end developers - says the real estate market is recovering nicely, several of his projects have been stalled. In addition, one of his development companies, Harbor Dreams, filed for bankruptcy this summer. The bankruptcy papers say the company has assets of $1 million to $10 million, and debts in the same amount.

The top 13 creditors listed include contractors and suppliers who worked for Hastings on his BackRiver Townhomes development in Hingham. Among them is Bayside Electrical of Hyannis, which went into bankruptcy partly because it wasn’t paid for the work done in Hingham, said owner Arthur Doherty.

Hastings said Harbor Dreams’s bankruptcy was the result of problems that couldn’t be resolved when his lender, Washington Mutual, failed and was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “It’s just unfortunate that there’s a lender that you can’t contact or engage with,’’ he said.

But Hastings said BackRiver is on track and doing well. “We just sold two town homes for record prices - $1.2 million and just under $1.4 million,’’ he said. “It shows people continue to have faith in BackRiver and in the town of Hingham.’’

The project is about two-thirds complete. When it’s done, it will have 45 town houses built adjacent to Bare Cove Park on the Weymouth line. Approved as a Chapter 40B development, some of the homes have been set aside for people meeting the state income guidelines for “affordable’’ housing.

The first occupancy of an affordable unit, priced at $171,000, occurred last week, and another is to be occupied in about three weeks, Hastings said.

Hastings still lives in his home in the Crow Point neighborhood, down the street from the Hingham Yacht Club. According to realtor Maureen Doran, it’s the most expensive house for sale on the South Shore.

“We’ve had showings, although not to Tom Brady or Tim Wakefield,’’ she said. “Nobody gets in there unless they’re qualified people, though. No sightseers. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful property.’’

The real estate listing provides more details: “The custom-designed 18-room, five-bedroom, six-bath, 10,610-square-foot house boasts numerous amenities not commonly found outside of Beverly Hills. This beautiful home stretches along the top of a cliff over Hingham Harbor, with an infinity edge pool seemingly dripping into the ocean. A commercial-grade movie theater, indoor basketball court, exercise room & spa, floor-to-ceiling aquarium, and a four-car garage truly make this a spectacular one of a kind home.’’

The house, which Hastings built in 2001, also has panoramic views and a deepwater dock. He said he’s selling it because his children are grown and it’s too big for just him.

He’s also selling - and has a buyer for - the marina he owns across Hingham Harbor near the Route 3A rotary. He had wanted to develop the site for commercial use, but ran into permit problems with the town.

Problems with Hingham officials also have stalled his five-year-old plan to buy and renovate the town-owned Hersey House in Hingham and build another 15 town houses on the site for people 55 and older.

The project has been mired in court since March, when Hingham’s selectmen sued Hastings for breach of contract and fraud. They said they had told Hastings he couldn’t move the empty Hersey House, but his site plans showed it 27 feet from its current location.

Hasting countersued, saying the Zoning Board of Appeals had approved the plans and it wasn’t any of the selectmen’s business.

Elsewhere, Hastings said he has put a hold on River Ridge, a 100-acre “executive subdivision’’ in Foxborough, until the market fully recovers, which he fully expects it to do.

“It was very gloomy back in November, December, January,’’ he said. “People were glued to their television sets waiting to see the meltdown of our economy. It didn’t happen.

“We’ve seen a tremendous uptick in traffic [at BackRiver] in the last two months,’’ he said. “Right now, it’s a beautiful sunny day. I’m thinking about playing tennis.’’

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seelenfam@verizon.net.