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CONDO MARKET ROUNDUP
- Austin Condo Project in Chapter 11 Limbo as Wells Fargo Presses $12.1M Claim
- Phoenix's Century Plaza Gets New Owner and New Name
- CALCAP Snares $10.5M San Diego Project for $4.3M
- Downtown Miami High-Rise Condo Site Sold at 15% Discount
- New York Lender Buys Hawaii Industrial Condo Park
(AUSTIN, TX) -- Vito Rotunno, owner of Austin, TX-based Starfish Capital Advisors Inc., is in the middle of a $12.4 million Chapter 11 bankruptcy court battle.
Picked by creditors to salvage their claims against an out-of-state owner of two prime condominium sites, Rotunno is trying at the same time to work with Austin city officials to save the projects from liquidation.
The largest creditor, Wells Fargo, is pressing for payment on a delinquent loan balance of $12.1 million. Austin-based Cornerstone Communities LLC, the project's former construction and sales manager, has filed a claim for $3.5 million.
The projects are Pecan Park Professional Plaza, a 32,000-square-foot office condo and the neighboring Pecan Place Park Condominiums, a planned 100-lot site.
The Austin Business Journal reports about 25 single-unit, attached residential condos are already built on the site. About 17 have been sold. More than $15 million has been invested in the tract, Rotunno told the Business Journal.
The owner, Pecan Park LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in January. The bankruptcy petition listed $12.4 million in liabilities and $17,000 in assets.
Rotunno told the Business Journal his job was to "pull this phoenix out of the ashes" and turn it into a successful venture.
(PHOENIX, AZ) -- Century Plaza, a 17-story, 130-unit residential condo tower in Phoenix's central corridor, has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by Lexington Avenue LP and will be renamed One Lexington.
Phoenix Business Journal reports Phoenix-based Lexington purchased the property at Central and Lexington Avenues from M&I Marshall and Ilsley Bank. The seller had acquired the property after Windsor Century Plaza LLC defaulted on a $39.9 million loan obtained in 2006.
The building will be re-introduced to the market as a "newly defined and modern metropolitan living space complete with first-class amenities, finishing packages and a dramatically lower pricing model than the original residences sold for," according to a prepared statement from the new owners.
They live in Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA. Lexington's Wednesday announcement said.
Originally an office building for the Century Bank, One Lexington will begin sales this spring of one-, two- and three-bedroom condos ranging from 734 to 2,846 square feet, with prices expected to begin at $165,000.
"With the re-branding of One Lexington, we want to clearly define a new chapter in the building's story," according to Rob Macdonald, managing partner of Lexington Avenue LLP. "One Lexington provides an upscale yet affordable lifestyle in a centralized location."
(SAN DIEGO, CA) -- In another example of the prime investment deals on the market, California Capital Real Estate Advisors (CALCAP) has acquired a bank-owned, 140 unit, loft-style townhouse community in Downtown San Diego for $4.3 million. The original developer was into the project for a reported $10.5 million.
The development lies four blocks from Petco Park and within walking distance of the Gaslamp Quarter.
Edward Aloe
The townhouses were originally priced from $545,900 to $974,500 when they were first offered in 2008. They are sized from 1,325 square feet to 2,030 square feet and are at 1702--1710 National Ave.
The deal came together quickly. The lender wasn't identified.
"We were literally signing the loan docs and the purchase agreement at the same time and closed the deal 24 hours later," says Aloe in a prepared statement.
"This particular transaction was appealing to us because we were able to buy a 99-percent-completed asset priced substantially below replacement cost with attractive leverage."
Aloe adds his company is also "confident we can immediately sell off the units to end buyers who are tired of losing bidding wars on REO properties or have been waiting months for banks to make a decision on a short sale."
He says the units will be eligible for FHA financing and will be priced "within conforming loan limits."
(MIAMI, FL) -- Coral Gables developer Alex Vadia and his South Miami Avenue LLC company have purchased a 1.2-acre condo high-rise development site in Miami's high-end Brickell Avenue area for $8.35 million or $159 per square foot.
The price equates to a 15 percent discount off the current assessment value, according to Bal Harbour, FL-based CondoVultures.com. The six-lot site totaling 52,584 square feet is at 1300 S. Miami Ave.
The seller, Infinity II at Brickell LLC had planned to develop a sister high-rise to Infinity I.
Peter Zalewski
The transaction marked the third land sale recorded in Miami-Dade County in the last 30 days.
"The pricing has ranged from as little as $53 per square foot to as much as $159 per square foot," notes Peter Zalewski, a principal at Condo Vultures LLC. "Interestingly enough, all of the buyers own or have previously owned (properties) in South Florida.
(KAPOLEI, HAWAII) -- New York City-based iStar Financial has taken Kapolei Spectrum Business Park Phase II after the 12-acre, 221,184-square-foot, vacant industrial condominium project went into Chapter II protection in 2009.
IStar has renamed the 93-unit project Kapolei Trade Center. The original developer was Newport Beach, CA-based Low Archibald Real Estate Group Inc. which had offered the property at one time for $52 million.
Colliers Monroe Friedlander is currently marketing the property for lease. The units range in size from 1,620 square feet to 22,136 square feet.
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