ORLANDO-Condo Developer, LLC, the owner of 165 units at The Vue at Lake Eola, a condominium development in downtown Orlando, who purchased them at a bankruptcy auction on March 25, has 18 cash reservations from residential users and two unsolicited letters of intent for the 7900-square-foot retail space at the development. Both prospective buyers for the retail space are interested in the whole space, says Cristian Michaels, president of Condo Developer, LLC. Sale prices for the residential units average $245 per square foot, he says.

“As soon as we have a formal contract, which should be next Monday or Tuesday, we will be able to convert our reservations to sales contracts,” says Michaels, who is also the broker at RE/Max Town Centre in Orlando who is selling the units, which were purchased for a total of $25.9 Million. The name of the developer on the contract will be changed to Condo Developer, LLC, he says, to reflect the new ownership. The bulk sale of the 165 units closed on May 17th.

The 375-unit The Vue at Lake Eola was completed in 2007 by Chicago-based Westminster Partners, LLC, led by Chuck Johanns. Mike Murray of the Churchhill Development Group, based in Orlando, was also on the development team, but was bought out a year or so ago, says Michaels.

The original developers closed on 210 units before they ran into problems, says Jay Ballard, senior director, apartment brokerage services at Cushman & Wakefield in Orlando, who was the broker for the seller of the 165 units, then known as the debtor in possession, which was Westminster Capital.

The banks provided debtor in possession financing, which allowed the developer of The Vue to continue operating until the bankruptcy sale, says Ballard. But the financing, also known as bridge financing, added to the total indebtedness, he says.

The original developers of The Vue sold the units for between $275 and $350 per square foot, says Ballard. At the recent bulk sale, the average price per unit was $126 per square foot or $157,000 per unit, he says. These figures take into account the 7900-square foot retail portion of the development which has about $500,000 in value, says Ballard. All of the units are finished except for window treatments, he says.

There were eight lenders on the Vue mortgage, starting with lead lender Key Bank, and they put a floor unit prices, says Ballard, which prevented the developer from selling more units. “It is challenging to have eight lenders,” he says.