The Eleutheran - Eleuthera News, Sport and much more from Eleuthera: TRG Seals Deal  with Meritage for 50% of 900 Acre Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, Purchase

TRG Seals Deal  with Meritage for 50% of 900 Acre Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera,
Purchase
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admin on 23 April, 2009 
 
(Source: Bizjournals.com By Darcie Lunsford) The Related Group (TRG) said it has
sealed its deal to buy a 50 percent stake in a 900-acre peninsula on Eleuthera
Island in the Bahamas.
The venture, TRG-Meritage Bahamas LLC, acquired the peninsula, known as
Lighthouse Point, on the southernmost tip of Eleuthera Island, for undisclosed
financial terms.
TRG-Meritage Bahamas appears to stem from the partnership announced a year ago
between Related and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meritage Hospitality Group (OTCQX:
MHGU), which operates 49 Wendy’s restaurants in western and southern Michigan.
This deal comes as Miami-based Related faces servicing a combined $1.8 billion
in outstanding mortgages on its South Florida projects, according to Business
Journal research of court records. A nearly $500 million loan on Related's
1,800-unit Icon Brickell is scheduled to mature on June 18.
Meritage is also facing a financial squeeze. The company reported fiscal 2008
sales of $58 million, a 2.1 decrease compared to the year prior. Meritage
reported a net loss of $696,000 in 2008. In the past year, its stock price has
dropped in from $2.90 a share to close at 84 cents on Tuesday.
In a six-paragraph news release on Tuesday, Related Group CEO Jorge Perez touted
the closure of the Eleuthera deal as a “testimony to our longer-term outlook
on land values in the Caribbean.”
Perez could not be reached to answer follow-up questions on the financing of the
latest deal or how Related plans to manage its existing debt obligations.
“He is not going to be available to answer anything beyond the release,”
said Related’s Leah Weatherspoon, who was listed on the release as the Related
contact person. “Shoot me an e-mail with your questions.”
An e-mail was sent Tuesday afternoon, but a response had not been received by
late Wednesday morning.
The Related Group’s other partner, Miami Dolphins owner and New York real
estate titan Stephen M. Ross, could not be reached for comment, nor could
Meritage CEO Robert Schermer.
Said Perez in the news release: “While real estate values across the Americas
have contracted sharply with the global credit crisis, the fact remains that
large, undeveloped peninsulas of high-quality beachfront land are a very limited
natural resource.”
He added: “We are finalizing the entitlements with the government and the
Bahamas for a development program that is truly unique in the market and some
distance beyond expectations.”
Eleutheran Related Links:
See http://www.eleutheranews.com/local/326.html to read more on the 'Protect
Lighthouse' campaign article posted in March 2009.
Also See: Meritage Hospitality Receives Gov\'t Approval on Two Eleuthera
Oceanfront Development Sites - Published January 2008.