Article Courtesy of The Boca Raton News

By Dale M. King

Published May 18, 2008

The developers of the trouble-plagued Eden condominium project in Boca Raton may be in trouble themselves.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office, Economic Crimes division, last week subpoenaed records from Boca East LLC and Ceebraid-Signal Corp., said Sandi Copes, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.

A few weeks earlier, the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulations launched two investigations of Boca East LLC and Adam Schlesinger, Eden’s project manager.

The Boca Raton News has left several telephone messages at Schlesinger’s office, but they were not returned.

According to documents obtained by the Boca Raton News, DBPR alleges that Schlesinger “failed to pay assessments on his 75 unsold units of Eden Condominium One.”

It also claims that Schlesinger “excused 10 unit owners from paying their monthly assessment as of October 2007.”

The other letter from DBPR alleges violations of the Florida Condominium Act, such as failing to hold an association election, failing to provide owners with copies of year-end financial statements and failing to provide unit owners with copies of the budget in a timely fashion.

The Eden condo project has a troubled history.  Only one of four buildings on the site is finished.  A second is nearly done.  The others have concrete walls and boarded windows.

Originally conceived as a luxury condo project, Eden has been under construction since 2002.  The developer recently submitted a new plan for 248 independent age-restricted living units, to be built in conjunction with Parc Communities.

In his subpoenas, Attorney General Bill McCollum asks for copies of advertisements, offering statements, prospectus statements, applications and other documents relating to the “financing or financings that you have received or otherwise obtained from lenders and/or any third parties for your development project or projects known as Eden condominium No. 1 or Eden condominium No. 2.”

The AG said the documents are to be presented to an assistant attorney general by 10 a.m. on May 28.