Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Lender Seizes West Palm Beach Condo, Seeks Bulk Sale

The lender of the Whitney condominium in West Palm Beach has taken back the remaining unsold units in the recently constructed nine-story residential tower, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

New York-based iStar Financial has taken back 140 unsold units from the Miami developer Evernia Properties, which still owes $43.9 million of a $52.5 million construction loan taken out in 2004. The remaining debt works out to about $314,000 per unit repossessed, according to the story.

Fremont Investment and Loan was the original lender on the Whitney, but subsequently sold the condo construction loan as part of a portfolio sale to iStar.

A foreclosure action was filed by iStar before the developer decided in December 2008 to hand over the remaining units by agreeing to a deed in lieu of foreclosure, according to the story

Located at 410 Evernia Street, the Whitney condominium had strong presales during the condo boom of 2004-05 but was only able to close 70 units, or about one-third of the total inventory, when the tower was completed in 2007, according to the story.

The lender is now actively looking to unload the remaining units to a single buyer in a bulk sale, according to the story.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

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