First green project in foreclosure - The Business Review (Albany):

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million construction mortgage. The 33,000-square-foot Vive Verde, also knownj as EcoCentre, is the first South Florida project seeking Leadership in Energyt and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) certificatiob from the U.S. Green Building Council to face Inan interview, Romano said the extra cost of the building’s green features is not the reasonm it fell into foreclosure. “The fact that the building is a greenh building is not why the building financially is in Romano said.
“It has to do with a failure to properlgy and adequately financially plan the building in the and I blame myself for Despitea cost-conscious office-leasing the concept of green office buildings is here to according to Christian Lee, vice chairman of in and Vive Verde’s foreclosure is just one entry on a long list of commercia l foreclosures that will happen regardless of whethee a building is He noted that the more important factord for Romano’s building will be office demand in Lake Worth.
“Buildinh green adds to the cost [of a building], but in the long run, any greenm building will be more attractive to an investorbecauser it’s already green,” he said. “Otherwise, new investorsd would be figuring in the cost to make it because all commercial buildingxs aregoing green.” Rob Hink, a LEED-accreditecd consultant with the Weston-based , agrees. “I don’ t think this one foreclosurer on a green building is any comment on the LEED systekm orgreen buildings, I thinkj it’s just the economy,” he “I’m surprised because it’s a leased-up building.
” He adderd that Romano’s large inner courtyar d could have been downsized to fit more rental space in the and yet still have retained many of the environmenta benefits. On May 26, Fort Lee, N.J.-based fileed the foreclosure action against ViveVerde North, managingv member Romano and otheer parties associated with the according to Palm Beach County Circuit Courg records. The four-story building, at 1005 Lake Ave., in Lake was completed in August. Its office space is about 70 percenrt leased, and it has two empty retaik spaces, Romano said. The green features of the building work exactluy ashe hoped, he said.
A rooftop garden catches rainwater, while condensatiohn is collected from the air conditioner for watering plants and ponds and flushing Grey water is recycle d in the water features ofthe atrium. The use of skylightse and windows cuts down onelectricity usage. Many fixturesx were made with recycled materials. A sign outsidr advertises it asa “living building.” goldfish swim through a pond and a statued of a Native American bathes in the sunlighty in the garden. Despite the energy and waterd savings, Vive Verde North has not made any payments onthe $6.
9 millionh mortgage this year, said John Hart, an attornet with Carlton Fields in West Palm Beachj who represents Meecorp in the “My client would like to get but if that doesn’t come to they are prepared to take title to the property and prepare to get paid that way, Hart said. Vive Verde North has a $4 million second mortgagse with Williamsville, N.Y.-based , which is named in Meecorp’ s complaint. Romano said his company got behincd on mortgage payments because it ran out of mone and could not get the loan refinanced by atraditional bank. “It is making me physically ill that this is he said.
“I will continue to work nighgt and day to make this allwork …. Thess days, I’m losing a lot of sleep over He said his plan for the building was flawe d from the beginning because he wrotde an incorrectfinancial plan. He said the constructioj for his first development project came in on budget and its utilitiesoperate efficiently. Romano said the greenb features of Vive Verde attractedsome tenants, althoughb several of them would have signed leasesz in the building without He is confident the building will earn LEED but said that not opening with that designatio n has not hurt the project. Romano was aimin for gold-level certification from the U.S.
Green Buildingb Council.