In the midst of an overheated market — where banks were hungry to make lucrative loan deals and many investors thought there was no direction except up for real estate values — a pair of developers went to work on Manatee County’s barrier islands.
Steve Noriega, 56, and Robert Byrne, 51, had a vision for taking laid-back, beachfront properties to the next level of luxury and sophistication. They convinced more than 30 individuals and 20 banks to help them pull it off.
All told, Noriega and Byrne borrowed $43 million, using $26 million of it to buy two dozen properties from Anna Maria Island to northern Longboat Key. They then submitted plans to build 33 condo units and 15 homes.
Five years later, all they have to show for their grand vision is a partially constructed luxury home, four duplex apartments, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing citing $33 million in unpaid debts and a collection of angry investors.