Group 24, its new partner in the project, is one of several companies controlled by Mike Zoi. He and Turnberry chief executive Jeffrey Soffer first met while competing with each other on Ferrari North America's racing circuit. Zoi won the North American Ferrari Challenge Championship in 2007, according to published reports.

Zoi could not be reached Wednesday for comment. "We find San Francisco's high barrier to market entry coupled with Turnberry's internationally recognized brand and loyal following ... make the Rincon Hill project an extremely compelling investment for Group 24," Zoi says in a statement.

In addition to Group 24, Zoi also founded and runs Ener1 Inc., a Fort Lauderdale-based alternative energy company that last month acquired 83% of the capital stock of Enertech International Inc. Enertech owns a 200,000-sf manufacturing plant and lithium-ion battery manufacturing equipment located in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea and, through its US-based subsidiary, Emerging Power Inc., leases 11,000 square feet of office, battery pack assembly and warehousing space in Hackensack, New Jersey. A Group 24 representative tells GlobeSt.com that the batteries are used in hybrid-electric vehicles.

Zoi also controls TGR Energy LLC, which owns TOT Energy LLC, a new company that began trading on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board in September under the symbol TOTY.OB. The company bills itself as "a multi-national, diversified energy company" that "provides oil and gas companies operating in Russia and other markets with exploratory and development well drilling and oilfield services." The company, which operates out of the same offices as Group 24 (201 S. Biscayne Blvd. Suite 2868), has a 75-25 joint venture with Sibburnefteservis, a Russia-based oil exploration and drilling company created from the former Soviet Union's Ministry of Geology. In a June press release announcing its business strategy, TOT Energy said its activities "are expected to include the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas in Russia and Kazakhstan."

Turnberry Ltd. has on its resume some $10 billion in commercial and residential property development, including approximately 20 million square feet of retail space, more than 7,000 luxury condominium and condominium-hotel residences, 1.5 million square feet of class A office space and approximately 2,000 hotel and resort rooms. The company is known for turning a 785-acre tract of marshland into the City of Aventura and is the developer and owner of Aventura Mall, one of the five highest grossing centers in the nation, and the landmark Turnberry Isle Resort & Club.

Earlier this year, Turnberry completed The Residences at Atlantis, a condominium-hotel tower at the world-renowned resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas, and in Las Vegas completed Town Square, a 1.5-million-square-foot lifestyle center, and Turnberry Place, an ultra-luxury condominium and private club community, and The Residences at MGM Grand, a condominium-hotel development with more than 1,500 residences. Soffer also serves as executive chairman and majority owner of Fontainebleau Resorts LLC, which is developing Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a $2.8 billion, world-class destination resort located on the Las Vegas Strip that is expected open in fall 2009.