A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday allowed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to proceed in a process that developers hope will, in time, get a major development project at Port Norfolk back on its feet.

The case before the court involved a lengthy series of filings aimed at discerning the true ownership of the Neponset Wharf project on the Neponset peninsula.

Last month, CPC Ericsson Street LLC, which is controlled by Ryan Sillery of City Point Capital, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy hours before the project’s properties were scheduled to be auctioned off. Sillery and a partner, Rise Construction, had planned a complex that would comprise 4 buildings, 120 residential units, office space, and a marina on some 3.6 acres across 4 lots abutting the popular Venezia restaurant.

Since that filing, Federal Bankruptcy Trustee Justin Kesselman and Sillery’s attorney, Gary Cruickshank, have argued about Sillery’s authority to file bankruptcy pleading, given that other investors have interests in the case. On Monday, hours before a critical hearing in Post Office Square’s McCormack Court House, Cruickshank submitted a statement from Brian Anderson of Rise Development III stating that he was authorized to approve the filing. That assertion was accepted by Kesselman and by Judge Janet Bostwick, though she noted that she had prepared a completely different decision before the late filing.

“We always want to make sure a debt bankruptcy case is authorized,” said Kesselman.

For her part, Bostwick said, “I don’t think we’re out of the water yet. We have a ways to go, but we’re at the starting gate now and not still back in the stables.”

Another hearing on the case is set for July 2.