We are really in a market full of surprises.

I remember when Boca Developers started marketing their exclusive 972-unit condo development Marina Grande on the Halifax, their sales people were absolutely confident in their company's financial strength to the point of being cocky .

Located on the west side of Intracoastal by Seabreeze bridge, it offered terrific vistas, and the lure of the luxury and comfort never seen before in the area dotted with small commercial, little cottages, mobile homes. These 25 towers came from out of this world. They were supposed to represennt the best in living, a lifestyle destination, a catalyst for change in the surrounding area... It is an awesome project, that came at the wrong time. Just two years earlier and they would be OK. But they came on the height of the market, and this means that there were too many of those who planned on flipping the unit for yet even more money, that developer was asking.

They had billions and billions of dollars in their developments and that was true. One of the the largest if not the largest condo developer in Florida had an incredibly good portfolio of the most stunning properties in Florida.

The overwhelming majority of their properties are in South Florida, but their vision stretched a bit further and reached Daytona Beach area.

They tried to put the development on the ocean, but could not overcome the opposition to rezoning the part of beachside from Tourist to Residential, and then they bought a shopping center after Publix, which was the anchor, left for US location. They bought that 12-acre piece for a very good price, and then they bought the apartment complex just north of this site, so that they could expand.

Administratively they were in Holly Hill, a small town lost between bigger neighbors. When offered a project of that magnitude, the locals did not mount enough opposition, and, luckily, the project got all what they wanted in terms of density, height, etc.

They opened the sales center and offered the brokers cooperation on good terms, and the presales started. The initial idea was to build a tower (4 projected with 972 units, plus Marina), sell it, and then build the next one, and so forth until completed.

The presales were brisk and they started the construction of the second tower while they were still preselling the first one. Life was wonderful, and there was enough optimist for more towers like these. Then the market stumbled, and the sales started slowing. More and more of the buyers were canceling reservations, so they were filling for those who withdrew, and the number of units for sale was pretty stable, then the market started sliding down.

When time came to closings, a lot of would be buyers did not want to close. Many were investors, who simply did not see any business sense to buy out something that instead of a flip was quickly becoming a serious liability. Units not on the ocean and not in a core downtown, sort of like the enclave in the sea of small commercial, mobile home parks around, this was not the ideal rental place. the projects scheduled just south of it, which would enhance the area and together with the Marina Grande on Halifax create its own world, its own cluster, were put on hold.

The buyers refused  to close and instead initiated the lawsuit.They claimed that Developer did not built the promised number of slips, and now reduced the number of slip dramatically, and some other stuff insisting on misrepresentation, as far as I heard from people who reserved the units there.

Though this is not a guarantee of winning and walking away with the deposit, and there were already decisions on similar lawsuit brought against the developer in South Florida and the Buyer lost the first and second round, when the appellate court ruled in favor of the developer.

But what it did, was effectively halting the closings, and that hurt developer big time. They got to a point that they were not moving anywhere, and they are now in the process of returning properties to the Lenders. Nearly all of their developments were given or in the process of being given back to the Lenders.

So, who got Marina Grande on the Halifax? Here's the new owner: Momentis Property Group from South Florida (http://momentispg.com/mgrb.html). 786-523-0220

I went to the Towers. The sales center is closed, and Laura & Jessica now operate from the lobby of the second tower. You come to the gate, security writes down all you information, and the license tag, and lets you in. You go to the garage, park there and then enter the lobby. Everything is beautiful. The only problem is that there are very few people there. According to the salespeople, out of just about 70 closed units in both towers, only half lives there. They said they hope that they will start sales in a month. Does it mean the lawsuit is over? They do not know. My calls to the new owner were left unanswered.

If I understand what is going on, Boca Developers gave back the towers, but retained the land for the other 2 towers planned for this location. I liked that. This is too good to be left unfinished. I want them to complete this project, and then do their other approved project for two 22-story Towers on Beach Street. This project is in CBD, and it will really bring people to downtown.

Plans are fantastic. Money is scarce. What a mismatch.

If I were a Rockefeller...I would buy the project.

P.S. I took these photos with IPhone. I am disappointed with the quality. I understand that this is a tiny camera, and I want too much, but I am still disappointed.

P.P.S. This is my opinion, expressed here, and I wrote this based on what I read, heard, thought or saw. I try to be accurate, but there may be mistakes or different interpretations of events, and you should not base any decisions on my opinion only.