Article Courtesy of The Sun
Sentinel
By Patty Pensa
Published July 28, 2009
BOCA RATON -
Six years after the Eden was launched, the project is unfinished and its
few residents are unsatisfied. And even after a special meeting Monday,
there's no end in sight.
Some of the 27 owners at the development -- conceived as a luxury
condominium with more than 200 homes -- sought a way out. They asked
developer Boca East LLC to buy back their homes, which the developer said
cannot happen without a permit.
The developer, Adam Schlesinger, came to City Hall to ask council members
for another permit extension. In a unanimous vote and without explanation
Monday, the five-member council turned down the developer's request.
Schlesinger's representatives argued the recently passed Senate Bill 360
gives him until 2012 to get a development approval, which could portend a
legal challenge. The bill was designed to give |
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Residents
have been dealing with a legal morass while living in the
half-finished project on Palmetto Park Road near City Hall. |
developers more time to
build in a sluggish economy.
City Attorney Diana Grub-Freiser called the statute convoluted and said
the city would not say whether it agreed with the developer's position
that it has another two years to build.
Residents, meanwhile, have been dealing with this morass while living in
the half-finished project on Palmetto Park Road near City Hall. Only one
of the four buildings is complete. A second is mostly finished while the
remaining two are mere skeletons.
"Is he buying us out? My concern is if we give him an extension,
who's going to finance it?" asked Joanne Williams, whose $440,000
home took two years to close. "We just want out. We want our money
back and we want to move on."
After the council's vote, resident Dan Radison said he and the other
owners are basically stuck. He said he expects to keep paying his $3,100
mortgage for a home he'd like to unload but can't rent or sell. |
|
Six
years after the Eden was launched, the project is unfinished and its
few residents are unsatisfied. |
"I don't blame the council," he said. "There's something
wrong with this deal."
An attorney for Schlesinger described his client as meeting city deadlines
and responding to city questions without the city reciprocating, which
city officials disputed. The two sides also had been at odds over how much
the developer was required to pay in fees.
"We are prepared to get financing and move forward" with a plan
to turn the condos into rentals, said attorney Kelly Reagan.
"Everyone will be bought out if and when we get financing. The
fastest way to be bought out is if permits are in place. Anything else is
a delay."
The developer has put up $750,000 in letters of credit but must provide
another $250,000 commitment when the city issues its building permit.
Schlesinger said he has been talking to lenders but has found it difficult
to get a written loan commitment without a building permit.
Even after the council vote against a permit extension, Schlesinger could
apply for a new permit. But he would have to comply with the city's
stricter, post-hurricane building code. The |
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Only
one of the four buildings is complete. A second is mostly finished
while the remaining two are mere skeletons. |
developer has until 2010 to
get a development approval but his building permit expires Sept. 21, which
prompted Monday night's special meeting.
Three hurricanes and high construction costs stalled the project.
"In my years with the city, I've never seen a project where there's
been so much confusion," said Jorge Camejo, development services
director.
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