Core Communities LLC, the company behind the Tradition community and Port St. Lucie’s biggest developer, is trying to renegotiate two major loans as the value of its property has dropped.

Core’s parent company, Fort Lauderdale-based Woodbridge Holdings Corp. (Pink Sheets: WDGH), warned in its first-quarter report last week that Core was dealing with “cash flow deficits” and said its lenders are seeking payments to more closely align two development loans with the depleted value of Core’s land.

The deterioration of the real estate market and the possibility of those cash payments “raise substantial doubt regarding Core’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Woodbridge states in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. And Woodbridge points out that it’s under no obligation to inject cash into Core.

The grim assessment is worst-case-scenario, Core officials in Port St. Lucie said.

“It’s management’s opinion that we’re going to be successful in negotiating these loans,” said Tom Babcock, president of Core.

He noted that Core has $15 million in cash on hand. And he pointed to the success of Tradition’s two major retail projects in western Port St. Lucie: the 600,000-square-foot Landing shopping center is 92 percent occupied, and the smaller Tradition Square is at 95 percent.

“The prognosis is good,” Babcock said of Core’s future. “But we’re not any different than any other developer that’s suffered in these economic times with respect to declining real estate sales for residential.”

Tags: cash, Core Communities, development, lender, loan, retail, sale, sales, security, Tradition, value, Woodbridge

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 9:53 am and is filed under Economy, Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie County, Tradition, Treasure Coast business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.