TRG Seals Deal with Meritage for 50% of 900 Acre Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, Purchase

Related Group CEO, Jorge Perez

On March 21, 2009, about 200 persons joined 'Island Journeys' at a Beach Party, on Lighthouse Point, as the Protect Lighthouse Beach Campaign kicked off. This event was the official commencement of the Protect Lighthouse Beach Campaign, being sponsored by Island Journeys. For further information see www.protectlighthouse.org. In a related story, TRG-Meritage has announced a mega lighthouse point deal:

(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.