Colony Lender files partition suit against Breakpointe LLC

Colony Lender LLC is seeking a partition action to obtain the 5% interest in the 2.3-acre recreational property at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort that Andy Adams’ Breakpointe LLC currently owns.

Colony Lender LLC filed a lawsuit Aug. 28 in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court that states the partition of the property is necessary “due to the divergent interests of the parties and their interests and intended purposes for the Subject Property.”

“When people own real estate together and have no written agreement, they are just co-tenants, but Florida law has a partition mechanism to allow them to go their separate ways and not be tied together forever,” Colony Lender LLC principal David Siegal told the Longboat Observer last month. “This mechanism prevents land from being held in abeyance forever.”

Siegal said when land can’t be divided equally, a partition action can force parties to bid on the property in question.

“One of the parties will bid higher and acquire the property,” Siegal said.

The bid would be based on the percentage of property owned.

Adams could not be reached for comment.

Colony Lender previously owned a 15% interest in the recreational property. But its stake in the property increased to 95% following a July 14 auction in Sarasota County Court in which it won a bid for another 80% interest in the 2.3-acre property, plus 100% ownership of the restaurant complex and the former penthouse office of longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber.

Orlando-based Unicorp National Development Inc. has an agreement to purchase Colony Lender’s resort assets.

Town gives two Colony owners building permits
Colony Beach & Tennis Resort unit owners Blake Fleetwood and Ruth Kriendler received building permits from the Planning, Zoning and Building Department last week to make interior renovations, repair and replace windows, install working air conditioners and upgrade electrical panels.

The units have been closed since 2010, and Fleetwood believes that more owners will follow suit for permits to fix up units and make them habitable, even amid the legal turmoil affecting the resort.

Obtaining a certificate of occupancy for Colony units being repaired, though, might be an issue for owners such as Fleetwood and Kriendler. The units are designated to be used for tourism-related purposes only and cannot be occupied on a full-time basis.