Ginn Sur Mer – Credit Suisse Foreclosure Settled

New York Judge approves final settlement of $425 million foreclosure on Ginn’s $4.9 billion project in the Bahamas.

ginn sur mer from gotoby.comPalm Coast, FL – January 8, 2010 – The New York Supreme Court has approved the settlement of Credit Suisse’s foreclosure action against real estate developer Ginn-LA’s (Bobby Ginn and financial partner Lubert Adler) $4.9 billion mixed-use development on West End, Grand Bahama. The settlement ends the saga of events begun with Ginn-LA’s June 2008 default on a $675 million loan from an aggregation of lenders brokered by Credit Suisse.
Ginn-LA had pledged as collateral their interest in four communities under development:
  • Ginn sur Mer – West End, Grand Bahama
  • Tesoro – Port St. Lucie, FL
  • Quail West – Naples, FL
  • Laurelmor – near Blowing Rock, NC
A fifth development, The Gardens at Hammock Beach, near Palm Coast, FL was originally included in the list of properties encumbered by the credit facility. The Gardens was later carved out of the agreement.
Under a December 2008 restructuring agreement between Credit Suisse and Ginn-LA, Laurelmor was sold to a subsidiary of Linger Longer, the developer of Reynolds Plantation. Lubert Adler apparently maintained a financial position in this transaction.
The restructuring agreement also provided for the chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcies of Tesoro and Quail West. Both were sold at a bankruptcy sale; Tesoro for $10.9 million, Quail West for $13.5 million. Court records show that Credit Suisse received (after related expenses) only $14,942,645.74 from the sales.
Ginn sur Mer marks the final piece of the settlement as interest accrued at an unbelievable rate of $91,404 per day. Credit Suisse will control approximately 1,600 acres of the West End, Grand Bahama site, leaving Ginn with about 350 acres. This acreage constitutes the core of the planned development and is reserved for a hotel/casino and condominiums. The development company also retains ownership of Old Bahama Bay resort and marina as well as the airport.
The development company was required to deposit $160 million into an escrow account to assure that the canal system, water  & sewer system, roads, telecommunications, and the Arnold Palmer golf course were built. This work is complete. The project is to be further developed as a joint venture between Credit Suisse and Ginn although Ginn is reportedly seeking outside investors willing to buy out Credit Suisse.
Updated 1-8-10:  One lot owner notified GoToby.com that he had received a registered letter today announcing that the infrastructure at Ginn sur Mer was complete and that he could proceed in applying for a building permit.
6 replies
  1. John
    John says:

    What???

    I may be a bit dense but if I am reading this correctly, the same group that forced this property into foreclosure (CS) has now taken control to only go back and JV the same property with the old developer that drove this property into BK??

    What am I missing here???

  2. J
    J says:

    2nd coming of GSM scam/GSSM?

    looks like Ginn and Credit Suisse are still bed buddies in this latest edition of GSM-GSSM (Ginn Scam Sur Mer).

    How does an existing property in GSSM know if their lot is part of Ginn 350 acres or Credit Suisse 1600 acres?

    Did the public auction on Dec 23rd in NY actually happen?

  3. George Meegan
    George Meegan says:

    No blood from a rock, but cash from sand.

    The deads were just given instead of cash for the satisfaction of the lien holders CS. Then CS can sell the property, as they see fit, even to Ginn, and his new investors. They will be doing what the US court can’t do, liquidating the property. If it were in the USA it would have been court ordered liquidation. CS can also issue a loan to the new buyers, as it now is clear of the origional debt, that they get to right off as a loss and establish the property at the courts agreed on valuation, that being what was owed them. CS wins, with tax right off alone, Ginn wins with new investors, another bankruptcy sweet deal all around. Still Bahamans will, be incharge of the developement and demand more cash in escrow like they did before, as now the trust factor is "0", for Ginn. Some day it will be a beautiful place, if it doesn’t get hit by a Katrina level storm and wash it all away.

  4. erik
    erik says:

    ginn working hard

    everyone wants to bash ginn however i believe the way cs was structuring loans
    he could have stolen hundreds of millions and headed out. i have never seen a ginn community that was not beautiful maybe the buyers of late did not recieve everything they were promised but he has built some beautiful functioning developements big players in florida have bought exceptional ginn communities for pennies
    and are turning them profitable there have been no expense spared on his projects so i believe he deserves credit for producing beautiful products. tell me you wouldnt take the cs money if it was handed to you. i hope he finds the right partners and makes gsm work on a more todays market scale ie niche casino etc.

  5. frankie coconate
    frankie coconate says:

    are you kidding

    erik, are you bobby ginn ? the guy was/is a thief. he/you delivered nothing . where are the horses, clubhouse, riding trails , world class spa/ gym etc…. get real

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply