FORT MYERS, Fla. — Prima Luce, the luxury waterfront project in downtown Fort Myers, has seen some financial hardships, but the developer says no more; he has the money to get this project back on track.
The property has been foreclosed on, and it is set to be auctioned Thursday at 9 a.m. online.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
Bob MacFarlane says he secured $37 million as early as Monday to pay off the debt on this property.
He says they have already broken ground, replaced the seawalls, and installed reinforced steel concrete pipes to support the buildings.
Macfarlane says he has worked with three lenders in the past year. The last one agreed to work with the developer and loan the project what was needed, but Macfarlane says the lender did not have the funds even after signing documents.
Macfarlane says he had to find another lender.
He says he doesn't plan to go after the lender even though he has signed the documents.
"I don't have the time to go through and report everything to the district attorney's office," says Macfarlane. "I don't have the time, you know, my statement is, back outta deals, get out of here. I don't want to see you again."
But now, he says this new lender—which would be the fourth—has the capital and wants to be part of this project's completion.
"Now that letter also was signed by the president of this large industrial complex, and as soon as they saw the name, they know it's real," says Macfarlane. "Now we made some adjustments to the offer a few hours ago to speed up the closing." He made those changes on Wednesday.
As of right now, the auction of this site is still on for Thursday at 9 a.m. through the Lee County clerk's office.
"The only offer they got was from me, through the attorneys with the signed president of a large industrial corporation, corporations, so now they may go through with this foreclosure tomorrow morning, which cleans out the site and just leaves them there and then when we'll continue with our offer," says Macfarlane.
FOX4 asked Macfarlane what he had to say to the investors.
"I've talked to some of them that were angry because of the delays, they made complaints, and now that they've sort of mellowed out, if you would, because they're aware, and some have confirmed, that their original 10% is in that in that particular bank, and no one has touched it," says Macfarlane.
In the early 2000's Macfarlane developed the Riviera, Beau Rivage and St. Tropez condos along the Caloosahatchee. The firm’s development team was also involved in the Campo Felice project.
"The Beau Rivage, and that was a 23 story tower, very successful," says Macfarlane. "City council members later told me they all thought I was nuts when I was going to build that."
He says that even though the auction for the Prima Luce property is on Thursday morning, he hopes to move forward with building it.
"Now, let us say someone came along and offered more than we did," says Macfarlane. "Let's assume they did. They would build, they're not offering more [to not build the site]. All sites have a beginning. I've closed some of the most difficult transactions in the United States years ago. I've never been on this side of the fence."
FOX4 asked Macfarlane when they expected to start building the condos.
"About 45 days," Macfarlane said.
