Has the Downtown Orlando Condo Market Hit Bottom?

This article is From the OBJ |  THE VUE was worth 100 Million in 2007, just sold for 25.9 Million | Nearly 75% off the Hay Day Prices.

The Vue at Lake Eola condominium tower drew a final bid that was $5.4 million more than the minimum at a bankruptcy auction on March 15.

The winning bid of $25.9 million came from Condo Developer LLC, a Delaware-based corporation formed on March 8, said Justin Luna, a bankruptcy associate with Orlando law firm Latham Shuker Eden & Beaudine LLP, which represented the former owner Vue Orlando LLC. That amount bettered Starwood Properties Inc.’s second-highest bid of $25.8 million, Luna said.

Attempts to reach the winning bidder were unsuccessful by press time.

The auction of the 36-story, 375-unit downtown Orlando tower even drew interest from the Joe Lewis-owned Tavistock Corp.

Former owner Vue Orlando LLC in November 2009 had its involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization and sought qualified bidders to acquire the 165 unsold units and 7,972 square feet of retail space in the building, as previously reported by Orlando Business Journal. Creditors that initially filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in October later agreed to lend the building owner another $1.4 million to continue operating through the bankruptcy case. The Vue Orlando owes $53 million through a single mortgage note shared by Sovereign Bank, Comerica Bank, Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Inc., Charter One Bank NA, Great American Insurance Co. and Great American Financial Resources Inc.

The hearing to approve the sale is slated for March 31. If approved, the sale should close by the end of April, Luna said.

The $100 million condo tower, built in 2007, was developed by Churchill Development Group LLC and Westminster Partners LLC.