Summary:
Debtor, First One Hundred, LLC (First One Hundred) owns the six low-income affordable housing projects in Orlando, consisting of Colonial Manor Apartments I & II (2126 & 2100 Orange Center Blvd.), Lakeview Apartments I & II (2040 & 2026 Orange Center Blvd.), Savoy Apartments (2016 Orange Center Blvd.), and Bunche Manor Apartments (800 S. Tampa Avenue) (collectively, the “First One Hundred Properties”). See attached Location Map. The tax assessed value of each of the properties is as follows:
Colonial Manor Apartments I (2126 Orange Center Blvd.) $227,790
Colonial Manor Apartments II (2100 Orange Center Blvd.) $228,598
Lakeview Apartments I (2040 Orange Center Blvd.) $151,258
Lakeview Apartments II (2026 Orange Center Blvd.) $150,787
Savoy Apartments (2016 Orange Center Blvd.) $156,312
Bunche Manor Apartments (800 S. Tampa Avenue) $266,765
Only one of the complexes, the six-unit Savoy Apartments, is tenant occupied. The other apartment complexes contain a total of 104 units that remain uninhabitable and are in various states of disrepair. The City repeatedly assessed numerous code enforcement violations, and upon failure to remedy the violations, it recorded liens against the properties over the last 12 years that total $876,100 as of January 31, 2017 and continue to accrue daily fines.
PDQ Coolidge Formad, LLC (PDQ), previously owned the First One Hundred Properties. Fannie Mae filed foreclosure actions on its first mortgages against some of the properties and PDQ thereafter filed for bankruptcy protection in Miami, where the company is located. The PDQ case was ultimately dismissed. Fannie Mae obtained foreclosure judgments on some of the First One Hundred Properties. PDQ then transferred the properties to First One Hundred. Thereafter, Fannie Mae obtained deficiency judgments on the foreclosures and subsequently sold their deficiency judgments, for a discounted sum, to Me Too America (MTA).
In 2015, MTA filed suit to (a) collect the deficiency judgments it previously purchased from Fannie Mae and (b) invalidate the underlying transfer of the properties by PDQ to First One Hundred. In addition, a series of tax certificates were scheduled for tax deed sales for failure to pay outstanding real estate taxes on the First One Hundred Properties.
In 2016, First One Hundred filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Miami. The First One Hundred Properties (other than the Savoy Apartments) have for nearly two decades remained, for the most part unrentable, vacant, and boarded up in varying degrees of uninhabitable condition requiring considerable attention due to the lack of maintenance, repairs, rehab or replacement.
After First One Hundred failed to secure support for its proposed reorganization plan, the secured creditor holding a first mortgage on the First One Hundred Properties filed a Liquidating Plan of Reorganization (Plan), which Plan was recently confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court. (A copy of the confirmed Plan and the Confirmation Order approving the Plan are attached hereto.) The Plan proposes the transfer of title to the properties to the City, free and clear of all liens, claims and encumbrances, and the City’s lump sum payment of $700,000.00, plus closing costs and title insurance ($7,500 +/-). The proceeds will be distributed first to the following secured creditors: (i) all past due real estate taxes, tax certificates and pending tax deeds that have remained unpaid through Orange County since the calendar year 2009 through a closing ($320,000 +/-); (ii) a first mortgage lien in the face amount of $335,485 plus interest, which shall be paid in a discounted amount ($200,000+/-); and (iii) a Florida Department of Revenue Tax Lien ($6,000 +/-). The remaining balance will be disbursed to payment of awarded professional fees, allowed administrative claims and United States Trustee’s Fees, and various unsecured creditors on a pro rata basis as set forth in section 5.3 of the Plan. The City’s $300,000 Federal HOME Program Mortgage on the Savoy Apartments will remain as a lien of record and thus unaffected by the proposed closing transaction.
In an effort to encourage quality redevelopment and help stabilize the surrounding neighborhoods, staff recommends that City Council approve the Plan and the City’s payment of $700,000 so that the City can take control and ownership of the neglected properties that have created unprecedented blight in the Greater Washington Shores area (Lake Sunset/Clear Lake), without incurring the added expense, delay and attendant risks of initiating a state court foreclosure lawsuit, including the challenge of attempting to remedy the title issues relating to the properties. The confirmed Plan rectifies all title defects. Once the City obtains ownership of the First One Hundred Properties, it anticipates demolishing the uninhabitable existing buildings, and holding the First One Hundred Properties for future redevelopment. The six leases at the Savoy Apartments will be assumed by the Debtor and simultaneously assigned to the City, along with turnover of all applicable security deposits, which will avoid any disruption to the existing tenants. It is the City's present goal to partner with qualified developer(s), who are interested in construction of long term, mixed income or affordable housing communities that complement the surrounding neighborhoods. |