Lender Reposseses 500+ Units In Failed Condo Conversion Complex, Leaving Remaining Struggling Unit Owners With Uncertain Future

In Tampa, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:

• The future is uncertain for another big Tampa Bay area condominium project that was foreclosed on Wednesday. Corus Bank, the lender for the $74.8 million Lansbrook Village Condominiums in Palm Harbor, took back the property after its Atlanta-based developer defaulted on payments, online Pinellas County court records show.

• Condo owner Desmond Fowles said he thinks it's a good sign that the bank reclaimed the 509 units because the developer had failed to give the condominium owners association's board recent financial reports. "We feel it's a little positive," he said. "The bank is subject to more scrutiny than the developer." Developer Vista Properties also didn't replenish the board's reserves of $4 million. "The condos are 10 years old," said Fowles, who was at the Pinellas courthouse today to monitor the sale. "They're going to need new roofs in a couple of years. We don't have any resources." Fowles said he and other condo owners don't know whether the bank is going to raise unit dues for the reserve fund. Other owners are struggling, too, and in danger of foreclosure, Fowles said. "We don't know what is going to happen next," he said.

• Lansbrook Village was converted from apartments to luxury condos when the real estate market was booming. Lansbrook's spiral has put it in the company of several other big condo or development projects to fold since the market crashed.

For the story, see Bank reclaims condo complex.