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July 29, 2010 |
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| October 06, 2008 |
By: Polyana da Costa |
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ike other lenders who invested millions in what turned into failed residential projects that sit unfinished and abandoned, Bank of America knows that finishing what the developer started is one of the only ways to recover its investment.
The bank, through a court-appointed receiver, plans to restart in two weeks construction at Talavera, a 77-home luxury community in Lake Worth. It was started by Sterling Communities and left unfinished after the developer defaulted on the $20 million loan more than a year ago.
Bank of America, which has a pending foreclosure lawsuit against Sterling Communities, will fund the construction and sales efforts to try to recoup what it’s owed, said Lynn Coulter, vice president at Coral Gables-based Liberty Pointe Advisors, the court-appointed receiver who will oversee the project.
Coulter said the company has not assessed construction costs.
When Sterling halted construction on the project, it left 25 incomplete homes and four empty lots in the community, according to Coulter, who expects the homes to be completed in about six to eight months. The company will also try to sell the four empty lots, she said.
The asking price for the houses, were between $700,000 to $1.5 million when the project was first launched, will be adjusted.
“We are going to try and sell them at what the market will market will bare,” said Andrew Hellinger, president of Pointe Advisors. “But the important thing is we will get it finished to the standard that they bought into. We’ve already fixed up the landscaping and we are fixing it up so it’s a livable community.”
Liberty Pointe is expecting to sell the one– and two-story homes, which sit at the corner of Palomino Drive and 441, for prices between $500,000 and $800,000. The houses have between 2,840 to more than 5,200 square feet. The sales proceeds will be used to pay Bank of America.
If the profits are more than what the developer owes the bank, the rest of the money would be used to pay other creditors that hold a lien on the property, such as various subcontractors that are owed money for services they provided during construction.
Dozens of contractors who worked at the Talavera remain unpaid.
A call to Sterling, which is headed by developer Paul W. Asfahl, was not returned by deadline.
Liberty Pointe Advisors, a recently launched turnaround and managing consulting firm affiliated with Leviev Boymelgreen’s firm, Boymelgreen Developers, also is completing construction in several other South Florida projects being foreclosed by the lenders.
But Hellinger said not all lenders find completing the project the best option.
“Different banks are talking different positions,” he said. “Some will take it and complete it and try to sell it – others are wiling to take what they can get and walk away. It really depends on the philosophy and direction the bank wants to go.”
Polyana da Costa can be reached at polyana.dacosta@incisivemedia.com or at (561) 820-2065.
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