BOCA RATON — City officials want to know
how much longer the developer building the Eden condo will take to get it
done.
Work on the four-building, condo-conversion
project began four years ago, and construction permits will expire in
September.
Right across from city hall, where once sat
a 204-apartment complex, construction has been taking place on and off.
According to the city code, three
extensions of building permits may be granted. The permits for this
project have been extended twice.
To get a third extension, developer Boca
East LLC, an affiliate of Ceebraid-Signal Corp., will have to go before
the city council.
"Either they have to convincingly
demonstrate how they plan to complete the project, or the City could - and
should - pursue other alternatives," Mayor Steven Abrams wrote in an
e-mail.
It isn't the first time Eden
representatives find themselves facing an ultimatum. Last year the city
considered calling for demolition if they didn't speed up the project.
Rumors also have circulated for years as to
when the condo-conversion on Palmetto Park Road will be finished and why
it has taken the developer so long.
Adding more pressure are recent lawsuits
against Boca East LLC from frustrated contractors who haven't been paid.
The latest was filed two weeks ago by Patent Construction Systems, a
division of Harsco Corp., which finished its work on the Eden project in
January and has yet to be paid $84,210, the lawsuit claims.
The silence from Eden representatives
hasn't helped. Fifteen months have passed since their last promised
completion date of March 2006.
Buyers and residents have theories that
range from the developer reconsidering the original plan to simply looking
for a way to get out.
"They basically played with
people," said a condo-unit owner who asked not to be identified.
Asked if he's ever heard or received any letters from the developer on the
status of the project the unit owner referred to them as "very
difficult people" who have never returned his calls.
"I just want to know what's going
on."
Adam
Schlesinger, the project's president, did not return calls Monday.