Marina Grande On The Halifax in Daytona Beach Area.
I have written a few blogs about Marina Grande on the Halifax in Holly Hill, a small town in greater Daytona area, in the last couple of years, and looks like Ione of only few people who is following this condominium project.
I think this is because there is practically no information from anybody. So, here is part one.
A Little Bit of History
The plan was to built four 25-storey towers with 972 units on the Intracoastal in Holly Hill close to Seabreeze Bridge. All units with the view of the Intracoastal, and units from 8th floor and up with the view of the ocean. Swerdlow Group form Miami and Boca Developers from Boca Raton joined forces. Later they split and Swerdlow Group left it to Boca Developers. Today 2 of 4 towers have been completed.
The developer quickly filled the first tower (reservations at pre-construction prices with $10K in escrow), and they started to offer the units in the second tower. The market started slowing down, and no matter what the sales team did, they could not get it reserved to more than half of the second tower.
Then the time came to convert to contracts. The signs of stagnation were already there, and many buyers took their reservation deposits and left, creating the vacuum. And then those, who converted to contracts and put down 15% (if I remember it correctly), seeing that the market was not improving, initiated a lawsuit, blaming the developer for misrepresentation.
I do not think there was something malicious in what the developer did or anything really unusual. I am sure they did not foresee this turn of events, some plans have changed... If timing was not that terrible, the same people would be closing right and left and be happy with the investment. But the market turned sour, and they found the grounds for the lawsuits (here, as everywhere in the blog it is just my opinion. I do not want another lawsuit, this time with me as the defendant – LOL and not LOL).
It was not the first suit against Boca Developers. They won the one in South Florida. I thought there were little chances for the plaintiff in Daytona case, but the developer agreed to settle, and people walked away with money minus what they paid to the attorney. Anyway, it does not look like the developer gained financially from the settlement...
As a result, around 80 people walked away, and there are only 54 units that were closed in the first tower, and 10 in the second. I think there are two more similar lawsuits still active. I spoke to one of the would be owners, and he said that he joined the group of about 30 buyers from Central America (salespeople were actively working there), and the other group are those who bought the units, but now decided to use the same defense that brought to the settlement with a previous group. This could still take a long time.
If they succeed, even more people would walk away. But even as it is, there are 422 unsold units in the development.
Boca Developers faced with declining market, since have returned the developed part of the property (they retain the rights to the remaining land, where two more towers are to be built) to the Lender. The Lender, a New York investment company, hired Momentis Property Group from Miami to manage the property. "Momentis specializes in repositioning real estate assets and the workout of residential projects for develope
rs and banks."
However, it has been over a year now, and the promised sales are still not there, and there is no information. At one time I received a call from New-Journal and was interviewed for an article about Marina Grande on the Halifax, but this is all you can find about the development. Meanwhile, for over a year there are at least 2 people on the property, who are supposedly are salespeople. I have been going to them for over a year now asking for information, and for over a year now they keep saying that maybe in a month they will start selling unit. Last week they even told me that the company is working on the prices.
Another company, also from South Florida, does property management. Of course, Marina Grande on the Halifax is a sizable development, with gated entrance and all the amenities...
to be continued
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