The scheduled court-ordered foreclosure auction of more than 60 condos in the Sole oceanfront tower in the city of Sunny Isles Beach in Northeast Miami-Dade County has been canceled following the bankruptcy filing by the project's developer, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.
The project's developer - 17315 Collins Avenue LLC with Thomas L. Feeley of WaveStone Properties LLC - filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Florida on Jan. 10, 2012, according to federal court records.
The bankruptcy filing occurred the day before the scheduled Jan. 11, 2012 auction of the developer's unsold 48 residential units and more than 15 commercial units in the 165-unit Sole condominium, according to the Miami-Dade County records.
Prior to the bankruptcy filing, the project's construction lender of record – Corus Construction Venture LLC controlled by ST Residential under an arrangement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp – was positioned to take title to the unsold developer units within weeks of the conclusion of the originally scheduled auction.
Corus Construction Venture LLC – the suitor for the failed Corus Bank NA of Chicago that provided the original construction loan for the Sole project – obtained a "Partial Final Judgment Of Foreclosure And Damages" for nearly $19.8 million against the project's developer on Nov. 30, 2011, according to an order signed by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jerald Bagley.
The judgment amount is comprised of $15.4 million in principal, $4.1 million in interest, and nearly $300,000 in court costs and attorneys fees, according to the order.
The final judgment order calls for the units to be sold "to the highest bidder for cash at public sale, free and clear of all estate, right, title, interest, claim, lien, encumbrance, remainder, reversion, homestead, dower and equity of redemption whatsoever of the Defendants" as one of the final steps in the more than 20-month foreclosure process.
Prior to the auction, buyers had purchased 99 units in the Sole condo-hotel for more than $49 million between December 2007 and February 2010, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Sunny Isles Beach™.
As of Jan. 10, 2012, more than 40 units are available for resale in the Sole condo-hotel project at a median asking price of nearly $460 per square foot, according to an analysis by the licensed Florida real estate brokerage CVR Realty™.
In 2011, buyers purchased fewer than 10 units in the Sole project on a resale basis at a median price of more than $335 per square foot, according to the analysis based on Florida Realtors association data.
As of Sept. 30, 2011, Sunny Isles Beach had 675 unsold condos – including the Sole units – out of a pool of nearly 6,400 new units created during the South Florida real estate boom, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
Despite the remaining inventory, developers are proposing four new condo towers for Sunny Isles Beach with one project – Regalia – already having started construction, according to the CondoVultures.com Preconstruction Condo Projects list.
The Sole condo-hotel project dates back to the start of the last South Florida real estate boom.
In September 2003, the developer of the Sole condo-hotel paid $8.5 million for the development site using a $7.2 million loan, according to government records.
A year later in November 2004, the developer obtained a construction loan for $47.3 million from the former Corus Bank NA, which was ultimately seized by regulators in September 2009 and the loans put under the management of Corus Construction Venture LLC.
In January 2005, the developer filed a Notice of Commencement to begin construction on the Sole condo-hotel project, according to Miami-Dade County records.
Nearly three years after beginning construction, the developer filed the Declaration of Condominium establishing the Sole condo-hotel with 147 residential units and 18 commercial units in November 2007, according to government records.
Some two months after Corus Bank failed, the construction loan for the Sole project was assigned to Corus Construction Venture LLC in December 2009.
By March 2010, Corus Construction Venture LLC initiated the foreclosure process with a filing of a notice of Lis Pendens that ultimately led to the scheduled January 2012 foreclosure auction, according to government records.
It is important to note there are various stages to a residential real estate transaction in South Florida.
A transaction begins when a property is made available for sale and ends when a title is conveyed from one party to another party as a result of the recording of a deed with the local government.
As part of the process, a property typically goes under contract and into a due diligence phase by which a deal can be canceled.
The CondoVultures.com new condo sales report is based on completed transactions where a deed is recorded and taxes paid as a result of the sale.
Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based at 1005 Kane Concourse, Suite 205, Bal Harbour, Florida, 33154. You can reach Condo Vultures® LLC at 800-750-0517.
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