What's up with Naturewalk

**bobbob** · 02-02-2012, 10:07 AM

I see that marketing is going on and sales are being reported. I thought things were settled, then I see this.

http://www.ajc.com/business/develope...xfAwlajA.email

Pearson filed suit in 2010, contending the credit union reneged on a commitment that would have allowed him to borrow up to $30 million to buy deeply discounted Florida Gulf Coast properties from financial institutions and owners eager to part with them.In a 131-page order, Superior Court Judge Robert Flournoy noted that Delta Community Credit Union’s breach deprived Pearson of the funds he needed to consummate acquisitions of two valuable properties at historic discounts. This included NatureWalk, a community comprised of 278 single-family lots, of which 220 were developed. The property, less than a mile from the beach and near the community of Seaside, was also zoned for 226 condominiums.Although $100 million had already been invested in NatureWalk, Pearson had negotiated an agreement to buy the note and control in the property for less than $8.1 million. But the credit union blocked the deal, Flournoy said.Flournoy awarded $54.9 million for Pearson’s lost opportunities on NatureWalk; $1.65 million for lost opportunities on Tang-O-Mar, a property with six lots, including three that fronted the beach; and $18.85 million in attorneys fees. The judgment was awarded to Pearson and First Center, a real estate company he controls.

**PalmBeach** · 02-02-2012, 10:54 AM

Interesting.

**Beach Runner** · 02-02-2012, 07:46 PM

Lots of lights on in the welcome center yesterday during the deluge of rain. Something's going on.

**Zebraspots** · 02-02-2012, 10:57 PM

Can someone explain this? He is suing the bank for not lending him money for a distressed property? Or is he suing them for not allowing a short sale?

**kurt** · 02-03-2012, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Beach Runner

Lots of lights on in the welcome center yesterday during the deluge of rain. Something's going on.

The sales center is now the office of Beach Properties of Florida which is also marketing the property.

**PJJ** · 02-03-2012, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Zebraspots

Can someone explain this? He is suing the bank for not lending him money for a distressed property? Or is he suing them for not allowing a short sale?

He is suing the bank for failure to fund a loan commitment. The judge ruled that Naturewalk's worth $63 million, or nearly $300k per finished lot. Pearson must have had a deal cut with BancAtlantic and the bondholders if the number was $8.1. I'm guessing a lot changes on appeal, and it probably helped that the former governor of GA was involved (and apparently bills at about $50k per hour).

**Jim Tucker** · 02-04-2012, 06:24 PM

Does the realtor representing the property not have any agents who use the internet? Hard to believe they wouldn't respoind.

**jeffreyb_30319** · 02-07-2012, 10:37 PM

Sounds pretty straight forward to me. Pearson had a loan commitment to buy the property, came time to close, bank got cold feet, Pearson didn't have that much in the checking account and had to bail. Kolter came in and bought the place out when Pearson couldn't close, Pearson sued the bank for the money he would have made. The reason for all the activity IMO is the suits trying to figure out how the heck they are going to sell 250 houses for $400K with no beach access to speak of. That issue would tend to get a lot of cars in the parking lot. I'm thinking that Kolter would trade Pearson the property right now for the $54MM judgement in about 1 millisecond.

**Abby Prentiss** · 02-08-2012, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by jeffreyb_30319

Sounds pretty straight forward to me. Pearson had a loan commitment to buy the property, came time to close, bank got cold feet, Pearson didn't have that much in the checking account and had to bail. Kolter came in and bought the place out when Pearson couldn't close, Pearson sued the bank for the money he would have made. The reason for all the activity IMO is the suits trying to figure out how the heck they are going to sell 250 houses for $400K with no beach access to speak of. That issue would tend to get a lot of cars in the parking lot. I'm thinking that Kolter would trade Pearson the property right now for the $54MM judgement in about 1 millisecond.

What does Kolter have to do with the lawsuit?

**debradescalzo** · 02-08-2012, 07:23 AM

A friend of mine checked out Naturewalk and both of our familys were interested until she told me what the association fees were. You might as well live in Watercolor.

**NotDeadYet** · 02-08-2012, 09:32 AM

Didn't they fund the infrastructure with some kind of assessment district?
That might account for the high fees.

**PJJ** · 02-08-2012, 10:13 AM

Read the order. Kolter has nothing to do with the lawsuit, but they bought the property when Pearson couldn't close. The $8.1MM deal was with the two gulf front lots and the sales center, and he was settling with the bond holders (Community Development District that funded the infrastructure) to get it free and clear. I'm guessing Kolter at minimum cut a deal with the bondholders.

The judge seemed to place more weight on the commitment letter than the loan docs themselves, but the loan docs were heavily weighted favoring the debtor. The credit union tried to engineer monetary defaults and (without read the full loan docs) appeared to have overreached on technical defaults. Good case was made that they should have funded, and the judge used the bank's appraiser's value (that was ridiculously high and the bank later threw out) to determine the amount of the judgment. Oddly he ruled that as a normal course of business they weren't entitled to an appraisal review.

Of note, when the CU's CEO was asked "what is a loan commitment", he replied "I don't know". Sounds like the CU didn't do themselves any favors on the stand with that and a few other things. This will be appealed and could go either way but at the least I'd assume that the judgment is significantly reduced.

**miznotebook** · 02-08-2012, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

Didn't they fund the infrastructure with some kind of assessment district?
That might account for the high fees.

Yes, they set up the Naturewalk Community Development District for that purpose, but it may not have provided a great deal of funding.

**Ohio Girl** · 02-08-2012, 06:06 PM

I think Naturewalk has the potential to be a really nice development but if the HOA fees are high, that would be a huge deterrent.

**Papa J** · 02-09-2012, 01:00 AM

So what are the HOA fees in Naturewalk?

**Jim Tucker** · 02-09-2012, 06:55 AM

How about a Hotel Viridian Beach Club membership with every home?

**debradescalzo** · 02-09-2012, 07:29 AM

I had a friend tell me that the HOA fees for Naturewalk were $1600 a year and over $200 a month. I little steep!

**beachmouse** · 05-15-2012, 10:52 PM

Kolter's web site for the development:

http://www.kolterhomes.com/communities/29/nature-walk/

**tarvermt** · 05-16-2012, 01:51 PM

I agree the HOA fees are high when you first hear the number, but they do cover cable and internet (as well as typical landscaping services, the running of a cafe at the pool, and a beach shuttle). In my head, that basically cuts them in half because I spend about $100 a month on cable and internet as it is, give or take.

**tsutcli** · 05-16-2012, 04:42 PM

Where are they planning to park the beach shuttle while loading and unloading? Do they have some beach-side property?

**tarvermt** · 05-21-2012, 11:12 AM

I'm not sure, I don't know of any beach side property.

**Papa J** · 06-03-2012, 08:12 AM

According to the sales person on site the shuttle will drop off and pick up at the "Santa Clara" beach access.

**ray** · 06-03-2012, 11:05 PM

you got to be nuts to pay 399k for a home 1 1/2 miles from the beach. i thinks there will be over 500 homes in there when its finished. can you imagine how crowded that small area of beach will be when all the homes filled out

**tarvermt** · 06-04-2012, 08:14 AM

My fiance and I moved to the area about 9 months ago and have been renting while looking for a house up and down 30A. We just purchased one of the Village Lots in Nature Walk. Personally, I think it's a great location and we're excited we found a house design that really worked for us in a nice community. We feel like it's a good price for what you get. Everyone has different priorities when looking for a house and this one really met what we needed. So, we may be nuts, but we are really excited about our new house!

**watersounder** · 06-04-2012, 08:38 AM

Congrats on your decision! Your not nuts - Everyone has different likes and priorities in their property selection. How can any place be wrong in the 30A area?! You will love SW- enjoy!

Originally Posted by tarvermt

My fiance and I moved to the area about 9 months ago and have been renting while looking for a house up and down 30A. We just purchased one of the Village Lots in Nature Walk. Personally, I think it's a great location and we're excited we found a house design that really worked for us in a nice community. We feel like it's a good price for what you get. Everyone has different priorities when looking for a house and this one really met what we needed. So, we may be nuts, but we are really excited about our new house!

**tarvermt** · 06-04-2012, 08:46 AM

Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by watersounder

Congrats on your decision! Your not nuts - Everyone has different likes and priorities in their property selection. How can any place be wrong in the 30A area?! You will love SW- enjoy!

**Ohio Girl** · 08-03-2012, 07:46 AM

We walked through the 4 models at Nature Walk yesterday and I have to say that we were impressed. You can get a lot of house for the money. The houses are really nice with very high end features. The HOA fee is around $200/month but it includes wifi and cable so I think it's a good deal. Pool area is great ... if we didn't already have our cottage, I'd be very tempted.