Property Owners at Ginn’s Conservatory Banding Together

Unhappy property owners find strength in numbers.

July 30, 2007 – Palm Coast, Florida – Many who invested in The Conservatory have been unhappy with the results of their investment. Most would agree that their timing could not have been worse. Their 2005 purchases were at the peak of the market. But in a down market many think the Ginn Company ought to be doing more to help them sell their properties. As individual property owners, their concerns apparently fell on deaf ears at Ginn, so they started talking among themselves and found that there is strength in numbers. Ginn did listen.

On July 20^th, a group of Conservatory property owners met with nine Ginn representatives including Bobby Ginn. Property owners expressed several concerns. Among them were: 

• Lack of construction activity in The Conservatory.
• Requirement to build within four years.
• Impending balloon mortgage payments.
• Lack of incentive for Ginn sales people to sell a Conservatory resale lot v. selling a Ginn owned Gardens lot.
• Difficulty of outside real estate sales agents gaining access to the property. 

The following letter was sent to a majority of the Conservatory property owners. It details the meeting and summarizes Ginn’s response. Ginn promised to follow up on the verbal commitments in writing. The letter, which speaks for itself, follows: 

Fellow Conservatory Owners:

On Friday, July 20^th the small group of Conservatory Owners met once again with the Ginn Company as a follow up to many concerns voiced by property owners.  We were all very pleased to see the attention given to our concerns evident by the Ginn Company’s representation including:

• Bobby Ginn, President, Ginn Resorts
• John Gantt, COO & EVP, Ginn Real Estate
• Matt Hagler, SVP, Ginn Resorts
• Aiden Lynch, VP, Sales
• Jeff Davis, President, Ginn Real Estate
• Pat Kelley, Sales Executive
• Carlton Grant, GM of Hammock Beach
• Melissa Shane, SVP, Ginn Property Management
• Chris Abdalla, Director of Association Management 

Bobby Ginn opened the meeting and expressed his sincere commitment to his property owners.  He also spoke briefly with regards to the pending lawsuit in Michigan.  Their intention is to vigorously defend the charges and take whatever action allowed against the property owners involved including pursuit of club membership revocation and a refusal to market the properties held by the group.

It was acknowledged that the immediate concern revolved around the upcoming balloon mortgages held by many Conservatory owners.  Bobby Ginn and John Gantt will be personally meeting with SunTrust & Wachovia over the next two weeks to request extensions on behalf of all mortgage holders.  Bobby is confident that given his personal relationship with both banks this will be possible. 

The meeting then turned to marketing and sales.  The following initiatives are now or will shortly be in place:

• A Ginn staffed sales office will be located on Conservatory property.  Pat Kelley is the sales executive whose sole purpose is Conservatory property.  This was effective as of yesterday.
• Non-Ginn real estate agents will be given access to the community by simply showing their business card at the gate. 
• The club house will be finished in October and events will be planned to be held at the new facility.
• A major charity golf tournament will be held at Conservatory in November.
• A total remarketing of community will begin to attract end users. 

It is the belief of the Ginn Company that the best way to get momentum behind this community is by adding roof tops so that it is a livable community.  The following initiatives are in place to encourage building:

• The Ginn Company will be building 3 spec homes at Conservatory
• One builder just broke ground on another spec home.
• There are 10 pending contracts to begin construction within the Conservatory.
• Builder incentives are currently being offered including commissions being paid on new home starts, 18-months of paid HOA dues, 1-year of club dues, in addition the builders are being very aggressive on their pricing to help get homes up. 

Below are various other notable moves to help preserve the property values at Conservatory:

• The compulsion to build has been extended to August, 2011.
• The transfer of the social membership without fees has been extended to 2009.
• The golf membership will convey at the same price as originally paid for the membership until August, 2009.  For clarification, the membership cost $20,000.  If the property is sold the $20,000 will be returned to the original owner and $20,000 will be charged to the new owner.  In effect, it is a free transfer of the membership.
• HOA dues will be reduced by $1,200 over two years or by $50 / month.
• Two property owners will be added to the HOA board. 

Upon completion of the club house and with construction activity this will be one of the premier Country Club neighborhoods in the state. 

At the conclusion of the meeting it was clear that the Ginn Company stands behind this community and that they are dedicated to making it work.  There will be another follow up meeting in roughly 2-3 weeks to discuss the financing situation and to get a status update. 

Thank you,

Conservatory Owners

conservatoryowners@yahoo.com