Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel
By Stephen Hudak

Published October 5, 2016

Neither money nor bulldozers have loosened the grip an Orlando vacation home as on the Corredor family. Bought by their mother and late father 30 years ago, the two-story townhouse near Sea World has served as the family's vacation base for decades, a hub to entertain kids and grandkids at theme parks.


A lawyer for Westgate Resorts said a widow who has refused to sell her condo to the timeshare giant wants $2 million for her former vacation spot.

The 1,100-square-foot condo, which Julieta Corredor and her late husband bought in 1985 for $154,000, is at the heart of a squabble threatening Westgate's $24-million timeshare project on Turkey Lake Road.

"That's not even a starting point for negotiations," Westgate Resorts attorney Michael Marder said of the widow's demand, which he revealed Monday.

Brent G. Siegel, the widow's lawyer, would not discuss her asking price.

The Orlando-based company is building twin timeshare towers on a 180-acre site about four miles west of the Orange County Convention Center.

Marder said Westgate offered the widow $150,000 for the condo, which, according to the Orange County Property Appraiser website, is valued at $35,406.

The company owns everything on the towers' site except the widow's place, but claimed erroneously in county documents that it owned her condo, too.

The county, which initially approved the Westgate tower project, slapped the company with a "stop-work" order after negotiations stalled between the company and two of the widows' sons.

"What we want is for the county to do its job," said Carlos Corredor, one of the 81-year-old widow's children. "It's a matter of principle for us."

Westgate is appealing the stop-work order, and the family is appealing the county's decision to accept revised plans allowing Westgate to build around the widow's condo.

Orange County commissioners are set to hear both appeals Oct. 18.

Westgate's appeal of the order allowed construction to resume on the towers, but attorney Siegel, no relation to Westgate CEO David Siegel, said the company could be forced to tear down its towers if it loses its appeal.

The widow's condo was damaged earlier this year by a Westgate contractor on a bulldozer who was prepping the site for the tower project.

The contractor did not have a valid permit, county records show.

Westgate also has offered to rebuild the widow's property or give her another unit in a nearby complex if she'd surrender title to her damaged condo.

Marder said the company has been unfairly cast as the villian in the stalemate, alleging the condo was unsafe and had not been inhabited in years.

"This is not a case of a lady getting thrown out of her home," he said.