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MARCO ISLAND — It started out as wealthy people fighting over million-dollar Marco Island views of the Gulf of Mexico. 

It's now in the courts, with a major Florida developer envisioning $10 million in damages for lost business. 

Last week, Watermark Communities Inc., filed a lawsuit in Collier County Circuit Court against the Cozumel and Monterrey Condominium Associations, claiming that due to false information spread about by those two groups, WCI has lost potential sales at the Belize, a proposed third adjacent condominium. 

In the 18-page suit, WCI attorney Gene Stearns of Miami, claimed losses such as Belize reservation holders, prospective purchasers in the larger Cape Marco subdivision, costs to employ staff to "respond to the crescendo of misinformation," mounting interest costs due to construction delays, and "substantial" attorneys fees. 

"As a consequence of the wrongful acts, numerous persons who executed preconstruction agreements have terminated the contracts with WCI to purchase Belize units. The Belize is no longer sold out. Millions of dollars in sales have been lost," Stearns wrote. 

He also cited loss of "good will resulting from the years of work and capital invested in Collier County, the Marco Island community and Cape Marco." 

The bad blood has existed for a while but worsened this past spring, when the two condo associations each filed lawsuits against the city of Marco Island and WCI subsidiary Bay Colony-Gateway Inc., responsible for developing the Belize condominium 90 percent larger than planned by the original developer. After lengthy negotiations, WCI in September 2000 bought several Cape Marco development sites from Jack Antaramian and his Point Marco Development Corp. 

San Marco is a 30-acre gated residential community situated at the very southern tip of the island, with four high-rise towers and plans for two more. Residents of the Monterey and Cozumel — two of the four existing buildings that comprise Cape Marco — say Antaramian showed homeowners a drawing of one of two proposed additions, the Belize, before they bought their condos. 

But after Antaramian sold the remaining property for the Belize and the Corozol, residents of Monterey and Cozumel learned that WCI's plans called for a much larger building. The Cozumel and Monterrey condo owners want WCI to comply with the original plans. 

Stearns maintains that WCI has no such responsibility. In his pitch to Marco City Council and again in last week's suit, Stearns presented the same argument. 

All individual owners who purchased units in the Cozumel and Monterrey signed sales agreements that stated "Oral representations cannot be relied upon as correctly stating the representations of the developer. For correct representations, reference should be made to this contract and the documents required by...Florida statutes, to be furnished by a developer to a buyer or lessee." 

"We are not blinking," said Greg Woods, a Naples attorney who is representing Monterrey condo owners. 

WCI's lawsuit is "a standard response from the big company when they don't get things they want." 

"We do not believe any of their claims have any merit," Woods said. 

While he is scheduled to file an answer Wednesday, he may obtain an extension. 

The condo association carries insurance and "we're trying to give the insurance carrier an opportunity to select additional counsel for the defense," Woods said.