Blacksburg condo project for football fans in jeopardy
JEFF STURGEON | The Roanoke Times
A condo project in Blacksburg for wealthy Hokie sports fans appears on the brink of collapse.
Nearly half of the people that reserved high-dollar units at The Legends of Blacksburg have withdrawn and gotten their money back, said Bill Gearhart, broker at Coldwell Banker Townside, which has been taking reservations and holding deposits for the project.
Of the 80 units available at the project, more than 50 were once reserved with 10 percent deposits. But that number has fallen to 29, as several have requested their deposits be returned. The condos, marketed as one- to three-bedroom luxury units, are priced from $300,000 to $600,000 each and "within shouting distance" of Lane Stadium, according to its Web site.
The project is for sale, Gearhart added, but marketing is on hold. One of the developers awaits trial on fraud charges, according to AnnArbor.com.
With the season’s first home football game set for Sept. 12, the project billed as the ultimate address for ticket holders is no where close to even starting. The project site is a collection of boarded up buildings at the end of Warren Street.
“There were some problems,” Gearhart said. “We’re not actively marketing it.”
However, one of the project’s boosters, Hokie head coach Frank Beamer, apparently still expects The Legends to become a reality.
“He still has a reservation,” Gearhart said.
Details that emerged this week shined a new light on the financing troubles of the project.
A bank sued University of Michigan head football coach Rich Rodriguez for $3.9 million that he and others borrowed to develop the Legends, according to court records. One of those business partners, Clegg Lamar Greene, 71, was arrested Dec. 29 on five felony counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent. He is accused of stealing money from investors, including Rodriguez, to pay debts on various business deals, buy furniture and have cosmetic surgery. Greene, who lives in Clemson, S.C., faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
The lawsuit against Rodriguez was filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg, S.C., and served on Rodriguez at his Ann Arbor office last week.
Mike Wilcox, a Toledo, Ohio-based adviser to Rodriguez, issued a statement Tuesday saying the coach had been the victim of fraud dating back to 2004.
"Coach Rodriguez is the victim of a fraudulent real estate Ponzi scheme that has unfortunately affected many Americans," Wilcox said. "Several other coaches and prominent individuals are involved in this transaction."
Wes Few, an attorney representing the bank, said his client was the one out $3.63 million.
roanoke.com
Maybe the luxury is within the walls because I don't see it from the exterior of the project. These look like the run-of-the-mill affordable housing units in Fairfax County. |
