Article Courtesy of The Florida
Keys Citizen
By ROBERT SILK
Published March 31, 2009
A
Connecticut-based private investment firm has taken control of Holiday
Isle Beach Resort and Marina, according to a resort employee.
Starwood
Capital Group officials spent several days on the property last week,
according to the employee, who spoke to The Citizen on the condition of
anonymity, fearing a reprimand. Along with them were their counterparts
from Ceebraid Signal Corp., the West Palm Beach development company whose
$98 million acquisition of Holiday Isle in 2006 was funded in large part
by Starwood, the employee said.
Starwood
took control of the property on March 3, the employee said.
Holiday
Isle General Manager Jack Miller declined to comment, saying inquiries
should be directed to Starwood management. Starwood CEO Barry Sternlicht
did not return several phone messages seeking comment.
Starwood,
through affiliate VII Isle Funding, began foreclosure proceedings on the
Holiday Isle property in late January, alleging that Ceebraid-Signal
defaulted on the entirety of the $77 million loan Starwood made to the
company in 2006.
VII
Isle voluntarily dropped the foreclosure action on March 4, Monroe County
circuit court records show.
The
employee said Ceebraid-Signal agreed to hand the property back to Starwood
rather than contest the foreclosure.
Obadon
Hotel Group, a management company formed by Ceebraid-Signal, will continue
to run the property, the employee said, and a budget of several million
dollars is being put together for upgrades to the property.
Sternlicht
is the founder of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, parent of such high-end
brands as Westin, Sheraton and St. Regis. But Starwood Capital is a
distinct entity.
When
Ceebraid-Signal acquired Holiday Isle, famous for its Coney Island motif
and party atmosphere, plans called for it to be redeveloped into an
upscale hotel-condominium with units starting at $1.2 million. The project
collapsed under the weight of the deteriorating real estate market.
Note:
Ceebraid-Signal is as well the developer of the infamous Eden of Boca
condo conversion, where the Boca City Council bent over backwards to
accommodate developer Adam Schlesinger, leaving the owners who invested
their life-savings in these condos in serious financial distress. So much
for our elected officials protecting their constituents! More proof that
we have the best elected officials money can buy!
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