SANTA ANA -- The McAllister Ranch development will get thousands of dollars to maintain the faltering condition of the property, a bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday.

An affiliate of Lehman Brothers, Inc., the primary lender for the southwest Bakersfield development, will be required to pay up to $350,000 to pay for numerous obligations like insurance and utilities, according to Scott Belden, an attorney who was present at the hearing via teleconference.

The ruling means any argument that Lehman Brothers makes for foreclosure of the property cannot include discussion of the property being in poor condition, Belden said.

Foreclosure on the property would give Lehman Brothers ownership of the property, and eliminate liens places on the land by several contractors who are owed millions of dollars for the work they put into McAllister Ranch.

An estimated $46 million is owed to contractors like Superior Pipelines of Bakersfield, which is seeking $6.4 million.

Both Lehman Brothers and McAllister Ranch developer SunCal are in varying degrees of bankruptcy filings.

The money will be set aside for McAllister Ranch and two developments in Riverside County. At one of the Riverside developments, hundreds of residents have had utilities at a recreation center intermittently shut off.

At a hearing set for Nov. 20, bankruptcy trustee Alfred Siegel is expected to go before the court with a plan to re-organize the properties in limbo.