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| November 25, 2009 |
By: Paola Iuspa-Abbott |
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onstruction lender iStar FM Loans, which is seeking to foreclose on almost half of the units of the Oaks at Biscayne Landing, is asking a judge to appoint a receiver to run the beleaguered project and its association.
The condo association is in limbo after the developer lost the 373-unit project during the housing crisis.
iStar FM on Monday asked Miami-Dade Circuit Court Circuit Judge Lester Langer to appoint Andrew Hellinger to oversee the association, including paying its vendors and maintaining the common areas.
Hellinger would also have to lease or sell the 160 condos the developer an affiliate of Deerfield Beach-based Boca Developers failed to sell and iStar is moving to take back through foreclosure. Hellinger did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment. The lender needs someone to be in charge, said Holland & Knight attorney Jose Casal, who represents iStar.
Casal expects Langer to sign the order appointing a receiver quickly, he said, adding that the move is not being contested.
Hellinger is president of Liberty Pointe Advisors in Coral Gables, a real estate consulting firm. He is a lawyer and a former developer during the housing boom who has gone on to become a court-appointed receiver for several distressed projects in South Florida.
The iStar foreclosure suit against Boca Developers affiliate BLIA Developers aims at recovering nearly $35 million in principal, interest and condo expenses related to the unsold units.
Biscayne Landing was an ambitious project that the developer said would transform the former Munisport landfill site into a bustling community with condos, shops, hotel rooms and offices.
The Oaks was the first and only phase of the planned Biscayne Landing to be built before the housing market collapsed.
The 193-acre community, east of Biscayne Boulevard and south of Northeast 151st Street, was to include nearly 6,000 residential units, 180,000 square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel, 300,000 square feet of retail space and an Olympic training facility. The city of North Miami, which owns the land and awarded development rights to Boca Developers, approved Biscayne Landing in 2007.
Boca Developers, through affiliates, borrowed millions to develop the project. But its timing, on the eve of the recession, doomed its plans. In July 2008, the mezzanine lender of the Oaks, Momentis Property Group, took over the property after the developer fell behind on payments.
A year later, Momentis walked away forcing construction lender iStar to take control.
Since then, iStar has been making rent payments on the land to the city. iStar will have paid the city nearly $1 million on the land lease in 2009.
The developer stopped paying condo fees on the unsold units in August 2008. iStar has paid $1.7 million to keep the condo association operating, according to court documents.
A different lender is foreclosing on the undeveloped portion of Biscayne Landing. In September, Wells Fargo Bank, acting as trustee for Credit Suisse and First Boston, filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Biscayne Landing LLC, another affiliate of Boca Developers.
Wells Fargo successfully petitioned the court to appoint Charles DeSanti as a receiver to oversee the vacant land. Boca Developers owes Wells Fargo about $198 million.
Paola Iuspa-Abbott can be reached at (305) 347-6657.
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