Townhouses sold by ‘King of Coconut Grove’ are for sale, but there are problems
The never-inhabited Coconut Grove townhouses previously sold and double sold and triple sold to unsuspecting buyers by a developer accused of fraud are for sale. Again.
There’s a catch. Again. The houses, selling at twice their original prices from three to five years ago, do not have certificates of occupancy, and no one can move in until they do.
But the court-appointed receiver overseeing the tangled set of lawsuits against Doug Cox and his development companies wants to sell the houses
“as is” to recoup money for home buyers, investors and lenders who paid Cox more than $40 million.
Receiver Alan Fine has asked Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Thomas Rebull to allow the sale of 12 townhouses on Coconut Avenue — priced at $2.7 to $3.3 million each — despite code violations, liens and purchase contracts dating from 2018 to 2023.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Fine has received offers on the listed houses. He wants to sell them “free and clear of liens and claims” to maximize their value and obtain title insurance so that “future prospective purchasers of those properties would be able to purchase reasonably free of the risk of becoming ensnared in the issues giving rise to this Receivership.”
Original buyers ensnared in those very issues since they signed contracts with Cox and put down deposits with his domestic and business partner Nicole Pearl object to Fine’s plan. They had hoped Fine would sit down with them and negotiate a discounted price for their long-awaited homes, but he never offered, they said, after he initially asked if they would be interested in purchasing the homes at current market rate, which they couldn’t afford.
Fine argues that his job is to marshal what’s left of Cox’s assets and pay Cox’s creditors as much as possible, which may only be 50% to 75% of what they paid. Because Fine and his forensic accountants have been unable to locate unaccounted-for millions — besides the $283 and negative $14 left in two of Cox’s bank accounts — Fine needs to sell Cox’s properties at the highest price he can get.
“We are disappointed that Mr. Fine is acting like a real estate agent and treating the real victims like a nuisance,” said Michael Coyne, who paid a $487,500 deposit on a house when his wife, Oksana, was expecting twins.
Over the course of nearly three years, while Cox kept postponing their closing date or going incommunicado, Coyne and his family have lived like nomads in six rentals.
His company’s relocation to Miami was disrupted, as was Oksana’s nursing career.
Alan Lombardi, another original buyer, adopted newborn twins in 2020 and was looking forward to having a nursery for them in his and his partner’s new home. The twins are now 4 years old. The finished house he thought he was buying for $1.2 million has skyrocketed in value in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the country. It’s still empty.
“Those houses are cursed. Who would want to buy it out from under us?” Lombardi said. “Greed took over and everyone forgot about the families who were planning their future. We’re not investors making a business transaction.
We’re not loan companies collecting predatory interest. Yet we’re being treated the same as those creditors; we’re paying the same consequences as a lender or investor who failed to do their due diligence.”
“We’ve discovered justice is very expensive and very elusive,” said Lombardi, who has spent about $50,000 on legal representation.
Code problems remain today but should be resolved soon, say Fine and real estate agent Toni Schrager. The glass railing along interior staircases is too narrow. Swimming pool wiring needs to be redone. And there are other issues, Fine said. Buyers may be offered a clause to cancel their contracts and get a refund of their deposits if certificates of occupancy (COs) are not ready in 120 days, according to a court filing.
“It’s been almost a year since the receiver was appointed, and still no COs. That was supposed to take him 60 days,” said Kevin Ware, who put down a deposit on 2992 Coconut Ave. in March 2021.
Fine hired real estate broker Vivian Dimond to get the properties in shape — including COs — and market them. She has been paid $343,374.52 by Fine for fees and expenses.
THOSE HOUSES ARE CURSED. WHO WOULD WANT TO BUY IT OUT FROM UNDER US? Alan Lombardi, an original buyer