 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Prospective condo buyers line up
By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- The proposed Villas project has accepted $5,000 refundable deposits from more than 100 prospective buyers of condominiums in the twin towers proposed for the downtown waterfront. Larry Williams of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Inc. said Monday he has collected deposits from 114 people -- reservations for more than half of the 220 condominiums. A deposit reserves each prospective buyer the right to select a condominium to buy after the building designs are finalized. The deposits appear to confirm continued interest in downtown waterfront condominiums and in the Villas, a $76-million project backed by a developer with no significant experience. While a kickoff event was held Sept. 28, construction has not started and there is no public evidence that the developer has obtained financing. Williams said buyers will select condominiums in the order in which they paid deposits. He said they can receive a full refund of the $5,000 deposit at any time before signing a purchase contract. The deposits are being held in his real estate firm's escrow account, Williams said. Such arrangements are common for planned condominium developments, and the procedure is outlined in state law. As part of that, the state is supposed to review the escrow and reservation agreements to make sure deposits are held by a third party. It also ensures that the escrow holder will not release the payments to the developer before a sales contract is signed. But the Villas developer, Morris Development Group LLC, has not applied for state approval of the reservation and escrow agreements as the law requires. "We do not have a reservation agreement on file, which is required," said Mike Cochran, compliance chief for the Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes in Tallahassee, which enforces the condominium statute. "The potential penalty there is $200 per unit. You can do the math." With 220 units in the project, the potential fine is $44,000. After receiving from a reporter a faxed copy of the reservation agreement that prospective Villas buyers are signing, Cochran said he plans to assign the Tampa regional office of his agency to investigate. Williams initially referred questions about filing the proper documents with the state to Paul K. Morris of Morris Development. Williams said Coldwell Banker is using the same forms on the Villas project that it has used on other projects. Morris said Williams told him later Monday that Coldwell Banker attorneys did not feel the state filings were required. "I go strictly by what Coldwell Banker as professionals tell me," he said, adding that if any mistake was made, it will be fixed. "It's not my responsibility, because I'm not a real estate agent." Morris, 54, founded Morris Development last year. He moved to St. Petersburg after filing personal bankruptcy in California in 1999. He has no documented real estate development experience, having worked previously as a set dresser and independent artist in Los Angeles, the St. Petersburg Times reported in September. Morris' plans for the Villas call for two 20-story condominium towers above a three-level retail complex in the 400 block of Beach Drive NE. Another glitch between Morris' corporation and state regulators surfaced Monday. The state dissolved the corporation Oct. 4 because it failed to file its annual report. The corporation could reactivate itself by mailing in the annual report with a $150 fee. Morris said he has filed documents to reactivate the corporation.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
