Failed Unfinished S. Florida Developments Leave Two Lenders Holding The Bag (Again)

Recent media stories in the South Florida Business Journal report on two lenders who continue to add to their portfolio of defunct South Florida projects.

#1)

• Ocean Bank has filed yet another foreclosure action, this one on a 128-unit town home project in Miami. [...] Sean Mena, who once worked in sales on the project, said about 25 townhomes were finished, while some others were in different phases of construction. He confirmed that Ocean Bank took it over. County records did not show any closings at the project.

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• Ocean Bank has dozens of pending foreclosure lawsuits against development projects in South Florida. Bank executives have openly talked of selling these troubled properties for the right price.

For the story, see Ocean Bank adds townhome project to list of foreclosures.

#2)

• Mixed-use development Landmark at Doral won’t be completed anytime soon. AmTrust Bank has filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the 120-acre project. Slated for 1,109 residential units and 460,000 square feet of commercial space, the project is the latest by Boca Raton-based EB Developers to face a foreclosure lawsuit. [... The foreclosure] was based on the $124.4 million in mortgages AmTrust granted the developer in 2005.

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• Much of the site work has been done, but nothing has come out of the ground. [... T]wo additional residential projects by EB Developers in Miami-Dade County, a 1,280-acre farmland site and a 41-acre site in Palm Beach County, and another by a related company in Miami have faced foreclosure lawsuits. AmTrust held a $22.5 million mortgage on the farmland as of May 2007, and it won a $16.5 million foreclosure judgment on the 41-acre site in Boynton Beach.(1)

For the story, see Foreclosure filed against Landmark at Doral.

(1) AmTrust Bank has reportedly also initiated a foreclosure action on a mortgage it holds on 333 units in a failed Miami condo-conversion project in southwest Miami last month, according to this South Florida Business Journal report. Reportedly, Am Trust is owed nearly $28.9 million on the balance, accrued interest and other charges, according to the lawsuit.