Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel

By Mary Shanklin

Published August 25, 2014

       
Almost 30 years after the opening of MetroWest, its residents may get control of their community.

The MetroWest Master Association, which oversees about 40 homeowner associations within the southwest Orlando development, is to vote Thursday on paying about $2 million to "buy out" developer Carl Shakarian.

The South Florida businessman did not develop the 1,800-acre residential/commercial project, which opened in 1987. But five years ago, he bought 3 acres of MetroWest for an undisclosed sum from former developer Kevin Azzouz, who faced financial troubles at the time. In that transaction, he also assumed control of the association and its multimillion-dollar budget.

Shakarian could not be reached for comment.

The president of the master association said the "buyout," as officials call it, is the most recent attempt by residents to have control. Home to more than 17,000 Orlando residents, MetroWest is a mix of apartments, condominiums, houses and shops wrapped around an 18-hole golf course off Hiawassee Road. City officials say it is Orlando's most populous development, with the largest number of buildings.

"We've been trying to get the developer out of the community for a long time," said Jim Drayton, president of the master association. Five years ago the association offered Shakarian $1 million and then $2 million, but he declined, Drayton said. The new proposal calls for the homeowners group to borrow the money to pay Shakarian, and the association would repay the loan over five years, Drayton said.

In exchange for paying Shakarian about $2 million, the master association would get 3 acres. The land is valued at a fraction of that amount, but the "buyout" isn't about the land, Drayton said. It's about control.

Shakarian is allowed by courts to appoint three of the master association's five board members. The board has approved payments of about $120,000 annually to Shakarian for marketing MetroWest, association officials said. The Shakarian-controlled board also has approved about $300,000 annually to retain the services of Orlando attorney James Byrd, board members said.

One resident described the buyout as a necessary evil.

"It is frustrating and has a negative effect on the social fiber of the community because we have lost that connection to a master association that was formed in the 1980s to safeguard and enhance a thriving community," said Mary Jo Pezzi, a board member of one association. "Instead, we are faced with paying off an out-of-town developer in order to start over."

In 2010, an Orange County circuit judge ruled against residents fighting to take control of MetroWest. The judge said Shakarian had the right under Florida law to retain majority control of the development's governing board. When the development got underway in 1986, Florida law granted more leeway to developers retaining control of their projects. The Legislature further restricted developer rights in 1992, but only for new projects.

One wrinkle in the buyout proposal is that MetroWest could continue to be controlled by the Shakarian-appointed board members for a while. The association is considering keeping those members in place for two years to help with a transition, Pezzi said.

Byrd said MetroWest has such a diversity of opinion that he expected some opposition to the buyout plans.