Regions Bank has foreclosed on two communities owned by Shelby Homes in Indian River County, according to civil lawsuits filed in Indian River Circuit Court.

The total judgment on the two properties is $25.7 million, likely one of the largest foreclosure amounts in Indian River County.

A foreclosure judgment in the amount of $21.93 million was made against Shelby Homes at Millstone Inc., developer of Millstone Landing, a luxury gated community on 300 acres southwest of 27th Avenue and 17th Street Southwest. According to court documents, the original mortgage on Millstone Landing was $34.45 million.

The foreclosure judgment on the 82-acre Shelby Homes at Pine Lake Inc. is $3.79 million, according to court documents. That is undeveloped raw land south of the Vero Fashion Outlets mall on State Road 60.

Regions Bank spokesman Mel Campbell declined to comment. Regions Bank’s Miami-based attorney Ronald Rosengarten couldn’t be reached for comment.

Fort Lauderdale-based Shelby Homes President Robert Shelley said the foreclosure at Millstone Landing would only affect vacant raw land. No residential homes, community amenities or common residential areas would be affected.

“This is all pretty simple, it’s just a part of business restructuring,” Shelley said about Millstone. “They are just taking back certain aspects of the property which is part of a negotiated settlement.”

Mindy Mora, a partner in the corporate restructuring group at the law firm of Bilzin, Sumberg, Baena, Price & Axelrod in Miami, said the foreclosure was part of a “restructuring workout” that involved different Shelby Homes projects locally and in Fort Myers.

“It was consensual, expected and not contested,” Mora said. “Essentially, we worked through a resolution of differences with Regions Bank.”

Both properties are scheduled to be sold at the Indian River County Courthouse on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m.

“This doesn’t affect any existing homeowners,” Shelley said. “No one is going to be left being stranded or anything.”

In 2004, Shelby Homes entered the Treasure Coast with its seaside community of Mariner Bay located just south of Seaway Drive on Hutchinson Island. Shelby’s other Treasure Coast developments include Bradford Place in Vero Beach and two projects in Fort Pierce: Carriage Pointe Estates and Mariner Cove.

Millstone Landing was to contain 630 homes and had committed to setting aside 18 acres for an elementary school that would have been part of what county planners call the South County Initiative, seven projects by different developers, all planned as one community of 2,736 housing units on 1,218 acres.

Indian River County Planning Director Stan Boling said Shelby Homes had fulfilled its roads and infrastructure obligations with the county. Utilities and infrastructure for the school have also been built, but the building of the school has been delayed indefinitely according to the Indian River County School Board’s five-year plan.

“We may have a number of projects sit dormant for a while,” Boling said about the South County Initiative. “Right now there is no need for the school … but in the long term it’s still a good size and that obligation has been fulfilled.”

Mark Tripson sold the massive family property on behalf of brother, Jens, and sisters Karen and Logan to Shelby Homes in 2005 for $8 million, according to public records. His family started farming the land in 1946 at the then JoBar Farms, named after his parents, John and Barbara Tripson.

“I feel sorry for him,” Tripson said about Shelby Homes President Robert Shelley. “But I don’t have the money to buy it back.”

Nadia Vanderhoof, TCPalm.com

Tags: foreclosure, fort lauderdale, homebuilder, Indian River County, regions bank, shelby builders

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 10:49 am and is filed under Economy, Indian River County, 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.