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St. Johns road's money hinges on stalled developmentThe bulk of costs for projects to improve the road's heavily traveled interchanges with U.S. 1 and with Interstate 95 were supposed to be covered by a developer now in financial trouble.Florida Department of Transportation officials presented plans for the County Road 210-U.S. 1 interchange in a public hearing Thursday but said there's no clear funding source for the bulk of the $90.7 million in needed improvements. "Who knows what's going to happen next? Where the funding comes from is between the County Commission and the developer," said project manager Debrah Miller. The outlook for the future interchange seemed more reliable in May 2005, when St. Johns County commissioners approved a development known as the Twin Creeks Development of Regional Impact under the condition its developer, then Transeastern Properties, paid for most of the road project. The development, which straddles County Road 210, was supposed to reach its buildout in 2010. So far, no building has taken place.Just two months after commissioners approved the project, Technical Olympic USA announced it was taking over Transeastern's homebuilding assets. In the year and a half since then, real-estate sales have plummeted and the acquisition has failed to draw the capital expected. Technical Olympic recently announced it lost $143.6 million because of the Transeastern deal. The company's stock dropped from $18.09 a share in June to $7 a share in November. Now the company is involved in a class-action lawsuit with its shareholders and in a suit with Deutsche Bank, which is demanding Technical Olympic repay its loans for the $840 million purchase in full. Homeowners needing to sell their home visit 888SOLDin9 to talk with our Jacksonville FL partner about their personal financial situation. Our Jacksonville FL partner, Jim Tallent buys, sells, renovates and rents homes and properties in Jacksonville FL, Duval County FL and surrounding areas. click here for article |