Bristol Bay Could Be Under New Ownership

According to TCPALM.COM a potential buyer has once again started paperwork to acquire the massive Bristol Bay project that has sat idle on the southeast corner of County Road 510 and U.S. 1.

Mike Garfalo, a principle of Suncor Communities, said he’s placed the property under contract and is hopeful that the county approves of his plans to rezone portions of the large development.

“We’re working very vigorously with the owners of the property to create a deal that makes sense to both of us, mitigating our risks and theirs,” said Garfalo, who has offices in Vero Beach, Las Vegas and Pompano Beach. “We thought we presented a phenomenal project (to the county) that would benefit the community.”

The potential purchase price was not disclosed.

Senior Indian River County Planner John McCoy said he’s reviewing the pre-application documents.“The way it’s distributed now, it isn’t really conducive on the commercial portion because its very spread out and odd shaped, so we understand what they’re trying to do,” McCoy said.

At the height of the housing boom and with much fanfare, WCI Communities announced plans in August 2005 to build Bristol Bay, a 108-acre upscale community. Multifamily British Colonial-style units were priced from $400,000 to $1 million per unit. At the time of the announcement, WCI said it would break ground in 2006.

IHP Capital Partners, a large California investment firm owns the land and had provided financing for the development to Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities.

A little more than a year ago, as the local housing market started to show a decline, WCI announced that the project had been delayed indefinitely and company would return 100 percent of buyers’ deposit monies, together with any accrued interest, to those who had reserved properties at the development.

“We’d like to sell the property,” said Virginia-based Jeff David, senior vice president for IHP Capital Partners. “It is under contract with Suncor, but we don’t have any involvement with the development process.”

In June 2007, Donald Proctor and Jerry Swanson, owners of P&S Properties of Indian River Inc., revealed that they had been trying to buy the Bristol Bay property from IHP Capital Partners.

“We couldn’t get the information we needed from them to do our due diligence,” Swanson said Wednesday. “We made the decision not to go forward with the deal … at that point we dropped it and it seemed like they had these other people waiting in the wings.”

P&S Properties, which purchased 7.6 acres from IHP Capital for $5.1 million in April 2006, still plans to build the retail complex called The Shoppes at Bristol Bay adjacent to the residential development, Swanson said.

The upscale mixed-use retail center is currently in the planning stages, said Derek Arden, an associate with of P&S Properties, handling the property. The project must clear the Technical Review Committee and Planning and Zoning Commission hurdles. “After that, in three to four months, we’ll be breaking ground,” Arden said.