Article Courtesy of WFTV Channel 9
-- Orlando
Published June 29, 2008
ORLANDO,
Fla. -- Just when you thought downtown
Orlando's condo crisis couldn't get worse, it has. The Lexington, a
high-rise condo tower built out of an old downtown hotel, is returning to
its roots and turning back into a hotel.
Owners
who bought condos at The Lexington are now being offered pennies on the
dollar for their investments. All of the owners were offered a flat fee of
$88,000, less than half of what most of them paid.
Over
the years, the property has struggled through a number of
owners and failed promises. The new owners say the Crowne
Plaza name will be good for business and Orlando's economy.
There
were big plans for Orlando's first condo-hotel right to next
I-4, but The Lexington went into bankruptcy last year when
fewer than half of its 227 condos sold. S&L Hospitality
bought the property for $23.5 million and is now turning it
into a Crowne Plaza hotel, leaving 30 people who still own
condos with little options.
"It's
a nightmare. I bought this unit for an investment to make
money and I have not made anything. I have lost money,"
said Jane King. |
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Condo Owners Learn Their Building Is Becoming Hotel Again
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King
paid $199,000 for a condo on the sixth floor. S&L Hospitality offered
to buy it from her for $88,000.
"That's less than half of what I paid for
it," King said. "I'm not going to do it. I'm going to rent my
own unit."
Condo owners who don't want to sell their unit but
instead profit from hotel guests have to pay crown plaza $4,700 for
upgrades. Even though King and others refused the offer they call
insulting, hotel staff went into their units without their permission and
took out their beds and rearranged their furniture.
"They thought everyone was going to jump on
board with this and I am not jumping on board," King said.
The new owners told Eyewitness News they can't offer
any more than $88,000 per unit because that is what they paid for them. So
far, two have taken the offer.
For condo owners who sign up for the hotel rental
plan, they'll get half of the $122 a night rate.
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