WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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32-story Florida highrise has but 1 tenant
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-03 13:25 Then there were security concerns. One night, someone pounded on their door at 11 pm. They called the front desk at the next door building, which contacted police. A search turned up no one, though a pool entrance was open. Another morning they awoke to find lounge chairs in the pool. The parents and their children sleep with their cell phones by their beds. "I'm not a chicken, but this is a big building," Cathy Vangelakos said. Betsy McCoy, vice president and associated general counsel with The Related Group, which sold the family their unit, said they have tried to help find a solution -- even offering them a unit in the building next door, free of cost, while the situation is resolved.
McCoy said some of the interested buyers who put down deposits lost their jobs, others were unable to get mortgages and some were just nervous when the financial collapse came. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area in Lee County has some of the worst economic stress -- a combination of foreclosures, unemployment and bankruptcies -- in the country, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of more than 3,100 US counties. The latest AP Economic Stress Index, which assigns each county a score from 1 to 100 with higher numbers reflecting the greatest stress from the recession, found Lee County had a score of more than 20. Anything above 11 is considered stressed. Victor Vangelakos said they don't want to move to the tower next door because they would still be paying the mortgage and maintenance costs on the condo they own. They paid $430,000 for the unit and took out a $336,000 mortgage, essentially spending their life savings. He'd like for The Related Group to buy them out. "They want us to be refugees in Tower II," Victor Vangelakos said. "That's not how I expected us to live here." The family's attorney said he has filed two lawsuits on behalf of would-be tenants because the building wasn't finished as promised. He said they expected a clubhouse, marina, private cinema and restaurants. McCoy said those amenities could be developed, but were never promised. On Friday evening, the pool area was dark, most of the doors locked. Cathy Vangelakos and her 19-year-old daughter, Amanda, stepped into an elevator to head up to their unit. "Going up," an automated voice chimed. "Going up," Cathy Vangelakos said. "That's all we hear."
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