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Developers
Say Emerald Doing Fine
Galveston County
Daily News, July 12, 2007
by Laura Elder
GALVESTON
— Developers of the island’s Emerald
by the Sea say the condominium high-rise at 500
Seawall on the island is doing just fine, disputing
persistent rumors that say otherwise.
Rumors occasionally
circulate that developer Sunhill International Corp.
has stopped work on the project because of financial
difficulties. But Alan Chodrow, who is charged with
selling Emerald condominiums and with leasing space
at the attached retail center Piazza Blanca, said
work continues.
“The
building is completely sold out. Nobody is going
to drop the ball,” he said. “It’s
not logical.”
Chodrow reports
that all 113 units have been spoken for in the development,
which slowly has been rising on the site of the
former Jack Tar Hotel.
Sales are
measured by closings. So far, no buyers have closed
on units, which have prices starting in the low
$300,000s, running into the $700,000s and beyond
— penthouse units sell for upwards of $1.2
million. (Units, however, still are available through
resale, Chodrow said.)
In an unusual
move, the developer has deferred closings until
the common areas, which include shared amenities
such as a game room, fitness center and movie theater,
are complete, Chodrow said. Most buyers don’t
want to buy resort properties without the resort
amenities in place, he said.
IBC Bank,
which initially financed construction of the Emerald
and Piazza Blanca, on Wednesday confirmed that developers
of the project paid off a loan last month. IBC,
which leases space at Piazza Blanca, did not divulge
how much it had lent developers.
Sunhill International,
headed by Namir Faidi, is developer of the condominiums
and retail center. Chodrow said Faidi has invested
upward of $50 million in the project.
Sunhill commissioned
Randall Davis, known for posh residential and hotel
projects from Houston to Las Vegas, as a fee developer.
By using a
fee developer, investors call upon his expertise,
while maintaining ownership and control.
Davis, who
is busy developing another resort condominium, Diamond
Beach on the island’s West End, will own a
unit in the project, Chodrow said.
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