Sawgrass Marriott Golf - Chapter 11 Filing

This information is quite old, but these links may be useful for anyone looking for information on the Chapter 11 case of the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Florida - famous as the venue for Tiger Woods' public apology for his infidelities on Feb. 19th, 2010. It was owned by an Irish consortium, Redquartz Boundary Ltd., which purchased it at the height of the boom in 2006 and was forced into a Chapter 11 filing by its lenders, Goldman Sachs, on January 28th 2010.

The statement released by the Sawgrass Marriott at the time of the filing read as follows: “This action is in response to the current global economic environment and the fact that an agreement on a restructure with the lenders could not be reached. This process will protect the resort and allow us to continue to operate business as usual. We are firmly committed to maintaining our world-class operation and foresee no changes in the day-to-day operations at Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa.”

The story has been reported in a number of media outlets since the announcement last March, here are just a few:

Sunday Business Post:

Irish Investors in the Rough

Irish investors, including well-known names in the business world, could lose up to $90million they invested in the buyout of a hotel on the Sawgrass golf course in Florida. About 100 investors, mainly high-net worth individuals, were involved in the $220 million buyout of the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa at the height of the boom in July 2006. The investors include Philip Lynch, chief executive of investment firm On€51. More...

Irish Independent:

Florida Dream Resort's Value has Halved, say Irish Investors.

THE Irish owners of the Sawgrass Golf Resort and Spa believe the Florida property known for hosting Tiger Woods' February apology is worth less than half the $250m (€204m) they've ploughed into it.

The valuations emerged in a Jacksonville courtroom this week as Irish investors, including financier Niall McFadden, fended off an attempt to have the resort seized and sold. More...

Jacksonville Business Journal

Sawgrass Marriott Owners file for Chapter 11

The owners of the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Public records show RQB Resort LP and RQB Development LP filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida yesterday, listing Goldman Sachs Group Inc. among its creditors and assets and debt of as much as $500 million each. More...

Sawgrass Marriott Case Summary

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28589679/RQB-Sawgrass-Marriott-Case-Summary

A little car parking space by the sea... a snip at just £60,000

The Daily Mail reports today that a single car parking space in a Cornish seaside town has been sold for nearly £60,000 - which was £20,000 over the asking price.

The small 20ft by 12ft plot of land was snapped up by a local resident who was determined to get the sought-after space in St Ives, Cornwall.

The cost of the space is three times the average annual salary in the town.

Estate agent Jonathan Payne who conducted the sealed bid auction said: 'I cannot remember one going for more money.

'Spaces are always in short supply in St Ives and even going back years, they made a premium price.'

He said there was a chronic lack of car parking space in the old part of the town.

The small plot of land is beside the entrance to the council-owned Island car park.

St Ives councillor and shop owner Colin Nicholls said it was a 'massive price', saying: 'I would rather do without a car than pay that kind of money.

'It is overpriced but that's how market forces operate.'

To view the full article click here.

Ryanair Introduces Optional Larger (20KG) Checked-In Bag Allowance

Ryanair has announced that passengers can now choose a larger (20kg) checked-in bag allowance for €/£25 as an alternative to Ryanair’s standard (15kg) checked-in bag allowance which costs €/£15. Passengers who require a second checked-in bag can purchase an additional 15kg allowance for €/£35 (via Manage my Booking).


Ryanair continues to encourage passengers to travel light, by snapping up one of Ryanair’s approved Samsonite carry-on bags when booking their low fares Ryanair flights, which will allow them to continue to save by travelling with Ryanair’s free 10kgs carry-on bag.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair continues to encourage passengers to travel light and save even more by leaving the checked-in bags at home and taking advantage of our 10kg free carry on allowance, and our great value Samsonite bag. However, passengers who do require checked-in luggage can now purchase a larger 20kg bag allowance for €/£25 or our standard 15kg bag from €/£15. Passengers can purchase our checked-in baggage allowances at the time of booking or subsequently through Manage My Booking on Ryanair.com.”

CHECKED-IN BAGGAGE		Online-Ryanair.com
		15kg bag	20kg bag
1st Bag		€15/£15	€25/£25
1st Bag - Peak -July & August		€20/£20	€30/£30
2nd Bag		€35/£35	n/a
2nd Bag - Peak -July & August		€40/£40	n/a
*Each passenger is permitted to purchase up to 2 checked in bags.

Spain - Minister for Housing, Beatriz Corredor, has replied to comments made last week by her predecessor

The Spanish Minister for Housing, Beatriz Corredor, has replied to comments from her predecessor, María Antonia Trujillo and said that now is a good time to buy property in Spain. Trujillo had said that she would not buy property now and forecast prices would fall by a further 30% -50%.

Now Corredor has come out with a defence of the work of her Ministry, underlining the work it does in providing help into the official protection housing market.

The Minister said that there was still a tax deduction on housing in force this year, and that mortgage interest rates remained very low. She also claimed that some property in Spain has fallen in price by more than 60%. She said it was ‘important for purchasers to find out how much housing is worth in the area where they have chosen to live’.

She also noted that the SPA, Public Rent Society, was taking over more than 30,000 of the empty newly built homes into the rental sector.

From www.typicallyspanish.com

Blow to Dubai Property Owners

Dubai property owners, who have been left totally at sea about the potential for having their properties completed at any stage, will not be happy with the news that one of the Emirate's main builders, Nakheel, is believed to have let go as many as 650 staff in the past week leaving the company now employing an estimated 240 people.

Nakheel, the property unit of Dubai World, was responsible for some of the more newsworthy and largest developments in Dubai such as the three Palm developments as well as Dubai World. It has announced the redundancies in a fresh round of job cuts according to Arabian Business magazine, but it was very reluctant to put a figure on the staff reduction.

Nakheel claims that the bulk of the redundancies affected administrative posts, but this is the latest in a string of cutbacks for the developer, which laid off 500 staff in November 2008 at the peak of the global financial crisis, and a further 400 in June 2009.

Dubai World, and therefore Nakheel, is a state backed group which has restructured $10.5bn in financial liabilities, asking trade creditors to wait five years to receive full payment having fallen behind on its repayments. Its owners, the Dubai government, said it would put $8bn in cash into the indebted property unit in March to help it pay contractors and suppliers and complete its projects.

The recent redundancies, in what is the biggest developer in the Emirate, will call into question whether much of the property that was sold in the boom will ever be built. This will, of course, come as quite a setback to the many Irish investors who have sent money to the Emirate. The quandary is whether they now write off their investment to date, contemplate legal action or live in hope that the Emirate can turn around its fortunes and build the properties that have been sold.

Get the full story in the Arabian Business magazine.

Spain's ex Housing Minister says she would not buy property in Spain now

The Spanish ex Minister for Housing, María Antonia Trujillo, has told a reader of El País in an online interview that she would not buy a flat in Spain now.

The questioner asked whether she agreed with her successor’s view; Beatriz Corredor has declared that now is the best time to buy a home.

María Antonia Trujillo replied that everyone can do what they see fit, but that she has been looking to buy for three years and would not do so now as she expected house prices in Spain to fall by a further 30-50%. She added she hoped the adjustment would happen quickly.

Trujillo, who was Minister at the end of the real estate boom, admitted her part of the blame for the crash saying that everyone from the citizen to the politician has their share of the blame. She added however that the then Minister for Tax and the Economy, Pedro Solbes, had opposed her ideas to remove tax breaks for house buyers.

However she thinks such incentives should be in place now, despite the Government’s intention to remove them.

Asked if she missed being in Government, she replied ‘The best thing about being Minister is having been one’.

From www.typicallyspanish.com

House prices now rising in more than half of countries across the globe

Knight Frank Global House Price Index – Quarter 1 2010 results

Key highlights:

• Prices increased in 53% of the locations monitored by the Knight Frank Global House Price Index in the year to the end of March 2010

• The Asia Pacific region saw the strongest growth with prices increasing, on average, by 17.8%

• Annual price inflation for all global housing markets moved into positive territory for the first time since Q4 2008, recording 1.6% growth in the year to March 2010

• The top performers remain the Asian economies of China, Hong Kong and Singapore, all recording annual growth in excess of 24%

• Ukraine and the three Baltic States continue to occupy the bottom rankings with annual price falls of more than 30%


Liam Bailey, head of residential research, Knight Frank, commented: “Arguably, the most noticeable trend in global house prices is the ease with which the performance of global housing markets can now be grouped by world region. The top four positions in our rankings are all occupied by Asia Pacific locations, whilst Europe dominates the bottom half of the table.
“A recovery in the global housing market is undoubtedly under way, in Q1 2009 33% of countries recorded positive annual growth, in Q1 2010 this figure is closer to 53% but still some way off the figure of 90% recorded in Q1 2006. “Analysis of the quarterly growth results suggests the markets in some of the worst performing markets such as the Baltic States and Ukraine are starting to experience some respite, with prices falling at a slower rate than previously. Estonia experienced a 40% fall in prices annually but only a 0.5% fall during the first three months of this year.

“Prices in Hong Kong increased by 30.6% in the year to March 2010, however, we expect results for the coming months will show more muted levels of growth as the Government’s efforts to rein in the overheated market take effect. These include measures to increase land supply, a maximum 60% loan-to-value restriction on mortgages for luxury homes and developers are now required to release at least 30% of units in their first phase to halt the slow release of homes which allows prices to inflate over the course of the development. “In Australia, prices rose 20% in the year to March 2010, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). However, in our opinion the results from ABS overstate the actual underlying price growth due to its unique methodology and seasonal shifts in market activity, partly as a result of the increase in first time buyer demand over the past year which has been driven by government incentives.

“Historically, the index has overshot on both the downside and in this case the upside – other private house price measures, which have a more wide reaching methodology, taking into account apartments and semi-detached housing (unlike the ABS), have recorded growth of around 12% in the year to March 2010. This still significant growth has been driven by a confluence of factors; 40-year low interest rates, first time buyer concessions, strong population growth and a lagging supply response.

With interest rates now rising, the government withdrawing stimulus and the supply response picking up (albeit modestly), we expect house price growth to slow over the next six to nine months. “Doubts over the Australian Index’s methodology are mirrored in Spain where, according to its Housing Ministry, prices fell by 4.7% in the year to March 2010. Most serious commentators however believe price falls of 10-20% over this period provide a more accurate reflection of Spain’s housing market performance given its backdrop; 20% unemployment, a shrinking economy and rising debt.

“In Europe a positive story has been provided by the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Here, annual growth has hit double digits as housing markets, less beset by currency weakness and debt crisis than many of their European neighbours, has allowed supply shortages to fuel growth once more. “Generally, however, the Q1 2010 results suggest that whilst global housing markets remain polarised, each quarter provides new evidence that the global recovery is gaining ground as the proportion of countries moving into positive territory increases. It remains to be seen whether this is another period of sustained growth or the middle peak in a double dip recession. Certainly, a number of European economies face growing challenges in the form of tightening fiscal policy and austerity measures.”

For further information, please contact:
Liam Bailey, Residential Research, Knight Frank, +44 (0)20 7861 5133, liam.bailey@knightfrank.com


To read the full report Click Here.