Adams buys 19 Colony units

Unit owners have three options in a proposal put forth by The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association’s redevelopment partner, Club Holdings Ventures LLC: whole ownership, one-eighth fractional ownership or a buyout.

But, although unit owners are weighing the merits of the proposal and its costs, one unit owner is increasing his stake in the property:

Colony Beach Investors LLC, which lists W. Andrew “Andy” Adams as its managing member, purchased 19 units in February and March. Adams owns at least five additional Colony units, according to property records, while Adams’ son, William A. Adams, owns at least two units. Adams did not return phone calls from the Longboat Observer seeking comment.

However, the units aren’t his only stake in the property.

Adams’ Breakpointe LLC initiated foreclosure last summer on overdue bank loans for longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber’s residential unit and beachfront Vagabond resort unit. Adams also owns a 5% undivided interest in the resort’s tennis courts and recreational property. Additionally, his AdamsMark LLC was one of four finalists for the redevelopment of the property.

With 75% of unit owner approval necessary to move forward with Club Holdings’ plan, an owner or block of owners controlling 60 units could have a deciding say in the property’s future.

Adams’ company is the sole buyer of Colony units thus far in 2012, according to court records. He paid between $65,000 and $80,000 for each unit — just a fraction of what unit owners paid in 2004 and 2005, when unit sales generally ranged from between $100,000 to $275,000, back when the real-estate boom was at its peak and before the property fell into disrepair. Still, the prices are up from the bottom that some units sold for last year, when three separate units sold for $45,000 each.

As Adams continues to increase his investment in the property, other unit owners are discussing their future with the Colony and how much they’re willing to spend to be a part of it.

According to the current funding plan, Club Holdings needs 110 of the resort’s 237 unit owners to choose the whole ownership option to fund the project, according to multiple unit owners who spoke with the Longboat Observer but did not wish to be identified due to confidentiality agreements.

Owners say the costs for whole ownership range from the low $200,000s to mid-$300,000s for most units up to the mid-$700,000s at the high end, causing many owners, many of whom paid $40,000 to $50,000 for their units decades ago, to express concerns at the unit owners meeting held April 2 and April 3.

Association Board President Jay Yablon confirmed that approximately 110 unit owners would need to opt for whole ownership, according to the current plan. But he declined to discuss pricing, citing confidentiality agreements. Unit owners were required to agree to confidentiality before viewing the specifics of Club Holdings’ proposal, and discussions at the unit owners’ meeting were also confidential.
Unit owners who spoke to the Longboat Observer, however, said that they were pleased with the nonbinding resolution passed at the unit owners meeting to move forward with a 15-acre plan if they can’t reach a settlement with Klauber by May 1 on the future of three acres at the center of the 18-acre property.

On hold
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May was scheduled to preside over hearings ordered by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday to determine one of two scenarios in which the Partnership would receive damages and consider the Association’s counterclaims Wednesday, April 25. At press time, the case was still listed on May’s case docket, however, both Association Board President Jay Yablon and longtime Colony President/General Manager Katie Klauber Moulton told the Longboat Observer that the hearings would likely be rescheduled.