News About Properties

Big dreams for hotels are falling flat

After the residential real estate market peaked in the summer of 2005 and the commercial market began to cool a year later, hotels enjoyed a brief period in which they were viewed as the hottest commodity in a rapidly shrinking real estate world.

Developers of all dimensions announced plans for construction and deep-pocketed investors flew into the region to make big-dollar acquisitions.

The Blackstone Group descended from New York in 2007 to grab the Sarasota Hyatt for $65 million, while Rockwood Capital LLC dropped down from Connecticut to scoop up the Holiday Inn Lido Beach and the Holiday Inn Riverfront in Bradenton for $41 million.

At Estates of the Fabulously Rich, Gilded Era Is Going, Going, Gone

Richard and Amanda Peacock spent five years building their dream home, a 10,000-square-foot, orange mansion overlooking the ocean here. They filled it with leopard-skin chairs, pinball machines, antique Coca-Cola signs and six sports cars. It had a room full of 100 hunting trophies — including a hyena and the head of an elephant — and an aviary out back housing eight rare parrots.

On a recent Saturday, they held a one-day auction to try to sell it all.

“Four million, do I hear four and a half?” shouted auctioneer Dean Kruse, as he took bids for the mansion. “Come on, people — the good Lord stopped making oceanfront property a long time ago.”

More high-end properties sitting on the market

After 14 months on the market and about a $1.2 million price cut, a large, newly built home in the Oakland hills is on the verge of selling, assuming the bank allows it to trade for less than what’s due on the loan.

The approximately $950,000 “short sale” is a prominent example of something brokers don’t like to talk about, at least not brokers who represent owners: High-end properties are increasingly coming under the sort of pressure once reserved for moderate homes. In fact, as slowing price declines fuel hope that the real estate bottom is near, other signs suggest the worst is on its way for the region’s upscale market.

“The high end, they’re hurting more, actually, and you can bargain more,” said Pinky Sohal, a Realtor with Legacy Real Estate & Associates, who is representing the purchaser of 1055 Amito Drive in Oakland, a hedge fund manager whom she declined to name. “They’re begging for buyers to come in.”

Fear and Uncertainty Grows As Tainted Drywall Surfaces

As the number of new homes and condominium communities affected by tainted drywall continues to rise, fear and uncertainty among residents, owners and potential buyers in Southwest Florida are growing.

Much remains unknown about where defective wallboard from China was actually used.

The idea that American manufacturers also might have a problem is further stoking concerns.

One domestic drywall maker has been sued while another has an ongoing squabble with a Fort Myers couple over what is causing Chinese-drywall-like symptoms in their home.

Troubled Palm Beach Mall late on water and power bills, threatened with shut down over public safety [South Florida]

The Palm Beach Mall, already facing a $55.4 million foreclosure suit, was hours away from having its electricity turned off this month because it had not paid its bill to Florida Power & Light, according to a city spokesman.

In addition, the troubled shopping center risked having its water service shut off because it has not paid West Palm Beach water bills, city spokesman Peter Robbins said.

The utilities problems come a month after the mall’s owner, Indianapolis-based Simon Pro-perty Group Inc., was sued in Palm Beach County Circuit Court for allegedly failing to make payments on millions of dollars in loans due to J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The lawsuit was filed by ORIX Capital Markets LLC on behalf of Wells Fargo Bank, which is the trustee for the J.P. Morgan Chase Bank loans.

The foreclosure suit came after years of tenants being cleared out by Simon Property Group in anticipation of redevelopment. A stalled economy put those plans on hold but left the 42-year-old mall nearly empty.

L.A. may test loan program for troubled Pacoima homeowners [Southern California]

The Los Angeles City Council is poised to vote today on a plan to help distressed homeowners in the northeast San Fernando Valley by putting up city money for “silent second mortgages” that could encourage financial institutions to modify home loans.

The pilot program would make available $1 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency to help 20 to 30 homeowners in Pacoima and neighboring communities who are in foreclosure.

Under the plan, the city would loan as much as $75,000 to distressed borrowers, who would not have to make payments on that loan until they sold their home. The city money would go directly to lenders, which in turn would have to agree to reduce the mortgage balance to current market value — in some cases a write-down of more than $100,000. The banks and the city would get a share of any appreciation in the home’s value at the time of its sale.