Sunday, July 12, 2009
POLK COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- The new community was supposed to be their dream destination, a place to call home for their retirement. But that dream shattered when the developers vanished, leaving homes unfinished.
The residents at La Cresta in Polk County say the economy and a legal dispute between the developer, Del Webb, and the land development company have kept the community from being completed. Under the initial plan, there was supposed to be 1,900 homes and an activity center.
Only about 100 people bought homes. The activity center has yet to be completed.
"We were supposed to have all these amenities," said resident Jerry Melton, who has lived in La Cresta for two years. "We have nothing. We have a house, and many of the houses are sitting on dirt lots, and it's just tragic."
On Friday, Del Webb surprised homeowners by shutting down all its operations at La Cresta, leaving homeowners very angry. "When you buy something and you're told something, that's what you expect to get," Melton said. This weekend, dozens of homeowners met at a nearby golf club for an emergency meeting to decide their next step. After just an hour, they decided that the next step will be legal action. "We're hoping Del Webb will see they can't run over people like this," Melton said.
The residents also plan to contact the Attorney General's office to file a formal complaint.
Bay News 9 tried to contact the developers, but so far they have not returned any phone calls.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
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2 comments:
Beware of strangers bearing gifts....
I am a resident of a former Pulte-Del Webb community here in Florida, which is named La Cresta. On July 10th, community residences recieved an EMAIL from Pulte stating that they were ceasing business here in our community. They shut down the sales office, removed signage for Del Webb, closed the model homes and took away our small club house where we met for community activities. 1900 homes where planned. 90 where built. A 31000 sq ft Amenity Center was half completed and construction halted about 14 months ago as Pulte had a legal issue with the land owner. Now, we have a community, no longer a Pulte-Del Webb community. Pulte will not answer our phone calls or emails. We are in the dark. One thing we are not in, is a Pulte-Del Webb community anymore. This was what we ALL bought into, the Del Webb lifestyle. We have been robbed. No all we have is a home on a lot. Lots of empty vacant lots surround us. It doesn't look like a community anymore.
Be careful of strangers bearing gifts...
Here is the latest from our Landarc Mgmt company:
"We'll take your money but do nothing for you"
Addressing Owners' Concerns re: Pulte and JL Land - 7/14/2009
This message is to address some of the concerns that LaCresta homeowners have had upon hearing the recent news regarding Pulte (Del Webb) and JL Land. As of last week, Pulte representatives have resigned as LaCresta board members. Pulte has not communicated their intentions to LandArc. At this point, LandArc is waiting for JL Land to appoint new board members and to provide additional direction.
LandArc has directed your landscape vendor, Greenbriar, to continue to provide landscape care (cutting, fertilization, tree trimming and irrigation). All landscape replacement had been put on hold by the board; therefore, no action can be taken in this regard until direction is received from the new board.
LandArc’s contract is with your Association, not with the developer. We will continue to provide service as we await further instructions from the new board. In the meantime, the following are answers to some of the questions our accounting staff has received:
Q. What is the status of the $2500.00 Working Capital I contributed upon purchasing my home?
A. Please refer to Article 9, Section 9.11 of your governing documents.
Q. What will happen to the incentive credit of association fees Pulte gave me when I purchased my home?
A. At the time of your purchase, a check was written to the Association according to the incentive amount in your purchase agreement. Therefore, the credit on your Association account will remain intact.
LandArc will post further information to this website as we have it.
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