Quail West clubhouse, community thrive despite developer Ginn’s woes

The two championship Arthur Hills golf courses are open. The golf shop is fully stocked. The resort-style clubhouse is busy with activities, from bridge games and bocce to dinner dances and wine tastings. The clay tennis courts are ready for play.
Inside the clubhouse, the fitness center offers its usual classes, from Pilates to yoga. The salon still pampers members with massages and pedicures.

Two weeks ago, affiliates of developer Ginn Cos. based in Celebration in Central Florida, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions related to investments made in two high-end communities: Tesoro in St. Lucie and Quail West.

The filing for Quail West didn’t include the clubhouse, the golf courses or any of the common areas. They are controlled by the Quail West Foundation, the community’s homeowners association, said John Gamba, a foundation board member.

The bankruptcy involves 262 lots in Quail West, beach property off Hickory Boulevard and a sales office that were owned by Ginn-LA, he said. The sales office is now closed.

“The association at Quail West is not part of that filing. That entity is still an operating entity,” said Tom O’Brien, a foundation board member. The trustee for the Chapter 7 case has told residents the priority is to keep the club operating. The club has hundreds of members. No one has pulled out because of the bankruptcy filing, Kessel said.

One way the association is looking to better the situation is to offer trial memberships that require paying dues only, and no membership fee, as a way to increase revenues. The association is also looking at lowering its initiation fee of $175,000 to bring in more members temporarily.

“You’ve got a lot of residents in this community that are committed,” Kessel said. “That’s what you need to keep a community going.”

Source: Naplesnews.com

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Sales of existing homes across U.S. up in September

Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September, a real estate trade group said Friday. The data is a possible glimmer of hope that the housing slump could be starting to bottom out.

The National Association of Realtors said Friday that sales of existing homes rose by 5.5 percent in September compared to August, the best showing since a 5.6 percent increase in July 2003, during the five-year housing boom.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said a sales turnaround first seen in California was beginning to broaden to other regions of the country including Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island.

The rise in September sales pushed activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units last month. Sales were up 9.6 percent on a year-over-year basis before adjusting for seasonal changes.

By region of the country, sales soared by 16.8 percent in the West and rose a more moderate 4.4 percent in the Midwest and 2.2 percent in the South. The only region of the country which saw a decline was the Northeast, where sales fell by 1.1 percent.
Source: naplesnews.com

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Finding Housing Market's Basement

We may be starting to see the first rays of sunshine on a possible end to the housing crisis, reports CNBC's Diana Olick. Richard Dekaser, of National City, and Patrick Newport, of Global Insight, discuss.
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Source - cnbc.com

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AARP The Magazine’s Top 10 Healthiest Cities to Live and Retire for 2008: Naples, FL

#10 Naples–Marco Island, Florida: Residents received very high scores for regular exercise, healthy eating and not smoking; the area has one of the lowest cancer mortality rates in the country; Naples-Marco Island has the second most golf holes per capita in the country.Source: aarpmagazine.org

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