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Monday, December 29, 2008
Laurelmor Has a New Owner
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Economic Contraction
A single lot in Tesoro Preserve, a Ginn Company luxury development in Port St. Lucie, Florida, which was originally purchased for $245,150, sold last night at an absolute auction for a whopping $53,900, which includes the buyer's premium. (HT: Craig) From GoToby.com:
Tesoro is often referred to as Port St. Lucie's most upscale community. It boasts an Arnold Palmer Signature golf course and a luxurious 100,000 square foot plus clubhouse. As in other Ginn communities, buyers bought at the top of the market. Property values have declined and many owners are upside down with their lenders.
The Ginn Company has its own financial problems. Tesoro, along with three other Ginn developments (Quail West in Naples, Ginn sur Mer in the Bahamas, and Laurelmor near Boone, NC.) are subject to a Credit Suisse first and second lien debt, has been in default since July 1, 2008. The total debt is $675 million. Ginn reportedly still owns about 600 home sites in Tesoro.
Labels: Bobby Ginn, Ginn Company, Laurelmor
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Laurelmor ... Flaming Crash?
Bobby Ginn, the big-time wheeler-dealer behind the Laurelmor development in Watauga County, is facing, according to this a.m.'s W-S Journal, "cash-flow problems now and dealing with a number of lawsuits."
That's on the way to pointing out that the 30-day grace period Ginn's creditors had given him to make good on payments on loans ... has now expired, with principal and interest payments way past due. Standard & Poor's has downgraded the Ginn company to a "D" rating. D stands for Default.
"The lack of a loan agreement means that the Ginn companies 'will have to make difficult decisions relating to its management and oversight of four properties,' " one of which is Laurelmor.
"Difficult decisions"? Does that not sound like the pilot just before bailing out of a plane headed into a mountain?
That's on the way to pointing out that the 30-day grace period Ginn's creditors had given him to make good on payments on loans ... has now expired, with principal and interest payments way past due. Standard & Poor's has downgraded the Ginn company to a "D" rating. D stands for Default.
"The lack of a loan agreement means that the Ginn companies 'will have to make difficult decisions relating to its management and oversight of four properties,' " one of which is Laurelmor.
"Difficult decisions"? Does that not sound like the pilot just before bailing out of a plane headed into a mountain?
Labels: Bobby Ginn, Laurelmor
Thursday, July 17, 2008
www.GinnLawsuit.com
A group of investors in various Ginn projects, including Laurelmor in Watauga County, are banding together for a possible class action lawsuit. They offer news links and ... a blog (gulp).
Labels: Ginn Company, Laurelmor
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Ginn Co. Fails To Make Loan Payments
Monday, June 30, 2008
Unstable Laurelmor
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Burden of the Superrich
A reader (hat-tip: Ann) forwarded to me an essay by Barbara Ehrenreich (of "Nickel and Dimed" fame) that raises some interesting points of discussion about the changing demographics of Watauga County: the superrich and the merely rich are buying up (or "hogging," if you prefer) all the best places in this wide land of ours.Ehrenreich writes, "We are used to thinking that poverty is a 'social problem' and wealth is only something to celebrate, but extreme wealth is also a social problem, and the superrich have become a burden on everyone else."
We know some of the burdens well -- particularly the soaring tax values of raw mountain land, driven into the stratosphere by megalomanical developments like Laurelmor and the reluctance of builders to build affordable housing when there are much larger bundles to be made on McMansions -- and Ehrenreich is thoughtful on what happens to the service industries that feed, water, and clean up after the filthy (rich), particularly the workers who must travel longer distances in order to merely survive the "privilege."
Who are in those increasingly numerous stretch limos we see on Hwy 105? They're people who've earned the right to stay hidden from the likes of you and me while impacting our futures mightily.
(Incidentally, a local carpenter tells us there's trouble at Laurelmor, and all the work that was supposed to sprout up for local skilled and unskilled labor has so far not sprouted. Could it be that the down-turn in the rest of the economy has actually caught up with the types who could afford a Ginn mountain lot?)
Labels: Barbara Ehrenreich, Laurelmor, superrich
