Case Study

There may not be a record for endurance in a transaction, but if there were then this would certainly contend for an award. Romi Gardens was a 4.2 Acre parcel of undeveloped land on Sunrise Boulevard in Plantation, FL in central Broward County. In the summer of 2008 the owner, an investor, engaged my services to market the property. He had previously obtained entitlements for 95 condominium units but had no intention of developing the project. Unfortunately, with the real estate and capital markets crash on the horizon, there was virtually no investment appetite left for land. Rather than setting a price suitable for liquidation the owner held steadfast with eyes on a profit. Offers were made but none that stuck. In early 2009, I joined a different brokerage firm and once again retained the client and re-ignited this assignment. A sale contract was soon signed with a developer of affordable housing though that was short lived as financing could not be secured. Soon after, the property entered foreclosure. Later that same year the lender, a regional bank, completed the foreclosure and took title to the land. In 2010, the bank, now the Owner of the property, engaged my services to once again market the property. Meanwhile, the real estate market was in tatters and investor interest in land was scarce… though slowly showing signs of regaining steam. Investors at that time were poaching only deeply discounted sites and the bank, then under a consent order, held firm in recovering as much value as possible. More sales contracts were entered into and those failed as well for lack of financing. In once instance however a contracted buyer’s deposit became non-refundable. That buyer’s objective at the time was to either obtain the needed tax credit subsidies or alternatively, assign the deal to another developer. Neither occurred, and all the while the marketing of the site continued. Onto 2015, an offer was made by a retail developer. The Bank accepted this new offer and returned the previous buyer’s deposit. After several months’ time, this retail developer was unable to secure an anchor tenant and then once again we moved on. And again after that, several months later…another retail developer…same results. I believe it was Einstein who defined madness as persisting in the same actions with expectation of different results. This theory may have been tested here quite thoroughly. The Bank, now nearing a mandated 5-year limit on holding an REO asset, finally became more conscientious about adjusting to the market and understanding buyer behaviors and risk thresholds. Pricing was adjusted and then in early 2016 a contract was entered into with Preferred Development who went on to develop over 100,000 square feet of climate controlled self-storage. In contract for just 3 months and before entitlements secured, Preferred Development closed the purchase in an all cash transaction thus ending a nearly 8-year saga that began in the early days of The Great Recession.

Romi Gardens was a special listing. Riding with it all the way through and then after the recession; buyers, offers and contracts came and went; it was more a mission than a transaction. 

ROMI GARDENS BY THE NUMBERS

Total time from listing inception through closing: 7 years, 9 months, 4 days

Number of Owners: 2

Number of Times Under Contract: 6

My daughter’s age at time of inception: Not yet born

My daughter’s age at time of closing: 7

Case Study

Romi Gardens

“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

     Jimmy Valvano