Foreclosure Roundup in Boca Raton area

Congress Corporate Centre + Hotel at Yamato Rd. & I-95 (Sept. 2009)

The owner of the recently completed Congress Corporate Center in Boca Raton is facing foreclosure on that property, along with two of his hotels. Broadway Bank filed the foreclosure action against Shubh Boca Condominium and Atul Bisaria based on a $10.2 million mortgage issued in 2007. The 66,371-square-foot office is at 903 N.W. 65th St., in the Arvida Park of Commerce. Online advertising says it is available for lease at $19.50 a square foot or for purchase at $199 a square foot. In May, now-defunct Mutual Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Bisaria and his Shubh Hotels Boca over the 183-unit Guest Suites of Boca Raton (formerly a/k/a Double Tree hotel). The developer bought the hotel, at 701 N.W. 53rd St., for $7 million in 2002 and took out a $28.9 million mortgage six years later for renovations.
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Boca Village Corporate Centre - Yamato Rd. & Congress Ave. (Sept. 2009)

Even Ned L. Siegel and Malcolm Butters, both veteran commercial developers, haven’t escaped the recession without encountering foreclosure litigation. Key Bank named the developers in its foreclosure lawsuit against the undeveloped portion of their Boca Village Corporate Centre. It concerns a $3.1 million mortgage on a 4.4-acre parcel near Yamato Road and Congress Avenue that is zoned for 107,000 square feet of office space. CB Richard Ellis listed the site for sale for $6.8 million
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Beason Square Office Condo Complex near I-95 & Congress Ave. exit (Aug. 2009)

The developer of the Beacon Square Professional Campus office condo park in Boca Raton could lose the 43 unsold units there to a foreclosure by Wachovia Bank. A subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, Wachovia filed the foreclosure action on Aug. 4 against Weston-based Beacon Square Professional Campus LLC and managing members David Ortiz and Harry M. Rosen, according to Palm Beach County Circuit Court records. It is based on a mortgage issued in 2004 for $16 million and last modified in June 2008 at $13.3 million. The campus – at 7777 and 7781 Beacon Square Blvd., just south of the Congress Avenue interchange at Interstate 95 – features seven buildings encompassing 156 office condo units on 34.7 acres. Only one of the buildings appears empty. It has zoning approval for two more buildings. From 2006 through July 9, Beacon Square made 14 sales for $13.8 million. That includes $5.7 million in sales that were made since the developer’s loan was modified at $13.3 million.
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Yamato Crossings faces foreclosure (June 2009)

The owner of the Yamato Crossings shopping center in Boca Raton became the latest retail developer in South Florida to get hit with a foreclosure lawsuit. Fifth Third Bank filed the action against Yamato Crossing Associates and Boca Raton-based Talbott Realty, which has been hit with foreclosure lawsuits on several other commercial properties managed by its president, Gregory K. Talbott. The complaint is based on a mortgage last modified at $9.4 million in 2007. It covers the nearly 30,000-square-foot Yamato Crossings, at 202 Yamato Road, between Interstate 95 and U.S. 1. Tenants include a CVS pharmacy, Panera Bread and Regions Bank.

The city council has recently approved the construction of a bank on this site and in early 2009 the city also approved a rezoning of the site to allow for more fast food restaurants. This now appears to be an effort by the property owner to be bailed-out of an over-leveraged development. Adjacent residents in Boca Pinar opposed the rezoning as they had been promised by the city to maintain a buffer between their residential development and this retail center. Will the city now consider restoring the old zoning in order to protect the residents?
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Piccadilly Square shopping center in Boca Raton are facing foreclosure (May 2009)

Miami-based FirstBank Florida filed the foreclosure action on May 26 against Fort Lauderdale-based Serinev Corp., Expression Enterprises and several lenders with additional mortgages on the property, according to Palm Beach County Circuit Court records. Built in 1970, Piccadilly Square has 44,935 square feet between two buildings at 8221 Glades Road in Boca Raton. The 4.5-acre site is just west of Florida’s Turnpike. Tenants include Dunkin’ Donuts, Allstate and International Jewelers Exchange.
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199 W. Palmetto Park Rd. Office Building (April 2009)

A Boca Raton office building is the target of a foreclosure lawsuit by the families that sold the building and provided financing to its new owners. The litigation involves a 10,211-square-foot office building at 199 W. Palmetto Park Road, near Northwest Boca Raton Boulevard. Boca Raton residents Herbert L. Wachtel, Lenore Wachtel, Joel Granet, Janette Granet, Gladys Granet and Arnold Granet owned it. They sold to office for $4.4 million to Boca Raton-based SRAM Palmetto in 2005 and provided the new owner with a $5 million mortgage. On March 25, the Wachtel and Granet families filed a foreclosure lawsuit against SRAM Palmetto and Dorchester Realty, according to Palm Beach County Circuit Court records. West Palm Beach attorney Gregory D. Cook, who represents the Wachtels and Granets in their lawsuit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
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Another Arvida Park of Commerce (a/k/a APOC) in Foreclosure (April 2009)

Boca Raton-based Cambridge Assets II owns the 137,066-square-foot facility, at 750 Park of Commerce Drive. The building is on 9.5 acres inside the Arvida Park of Commerce. After buying the building for $20 million in 2005, Cambridge Assets II obtained a $15 million mortgage from Artesia Mortgage Capital Corp., which later sold the loan on the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market. According to a December report on CMBS quality by Horsham, Pa.-based Realpoint, Cambridge Assets II was 60 days past due on the $14.3 million remaining on its mortgage.
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770 E. Palmetto Park Rd.-Former Le Vielle Maison restaurant (March 2009)

A bankruptcy court judge has denied a company owned by Boca Raton developer Gregory K. Talbott relief from its mortgage holder, paving the way for the lender to continue with its foreclosure in county court. The 6,798-square-foot building at 770 Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton, which once housed La Vieille Maison, a restaurant is subject to the foreclosure. Boca Raton attorney Joey M. Grant, who represents 770 PPR, said his client has not decided whether to appeal the judgment. Stuart-based Seacoast National Bank won a $2.4 million judgment against 770 PPR, but its public auction to sell the property was delayed by the Chapter 11 filing. The bank subsequently sold the judgment to New York-based TJCV Land Trust, which successfully argued that 770 PPR is a single-asset debtor that is not eligible for Chapter 11 protection. It is one of six South Florida properties owned by Talbott or one of his companies facing a foreclosure action. A separate attempt to use Chapter 11 to stop a foreclosure against another Talbott-controlled property was previously dismissed from bankruptcy court.

In Jan. 2009 it was reported that one of seven foreclosure lawsuits targeting property controlled by Boca Raton developer Gregory K. Talbott could be resolved with the sale of the building to Talbott’s own lawyer. In a Jan. 26 filing to its Chapter 11 case in bankruptcy court in West Palm Beach, 770 PPR made a motion to sell its 6,798-square-foot building in Boca Raton for $3.5 million. That would resolve the $2.4 million foreclosure judgment Stuart-based Seacoast National Bank won against 770 PPR and Talbott. The proposed buyer is Boca Raton-based law firm Sweetapple & Varkas, P.A. That firm is led by Robert Sweetapple, the lawyer who represented 770 PPR and Talbott in the foreclosure case brought against them by Seacoast.
According to the contract, the purchase of the former restaurant, at 770 Palmetto Park Road, is subject to a $315,000 deposit, $2.8 million in financing and court approval. Talbott also controls 140 Associates, which is in Chapter 11, and owns the Boca Raton building where Talbott Realty is based. With a $4 million foreclosure judgment against that company, Seacoast filed a motion to dismiss the case from bankruptcy court.