Hard times for Merco Group [South Florida]
Starting with one earthquake-damaged building in downtown Los Angeles, the Meruelo family spent nearly four decades building a real estate empire stretching from California to Florida.
But even as family-owned properties like the Grand Bay hotel in Coconut Grove and high-rise condominiums attest to the family’s success, the Meruelo-owned companies now face mounting financial problems and a stack of lawsuits.
The collapse of the housing boom has caught up with many South Florida developers as land and commercial property values have tumbled and financing has dried up. The travails of the Merco Group and its affiliates — the Florida real estate holdings built up by Belinda and Homero Meruelo and their eldest son Homero Jr. — are emblematic of the drama engulfing Florida’s real estate market.
Already South Florida’s largest credit union, a global hotel management company, a waterfront property seller and more than a dozen angry condo buyers have taken Merco companies and their owners to court and won some $50 million in judgments.