First green project in foreclosure - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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million construction mortgage. The 33,000-square-foot Vive Verde, also knowj as EcoCentre, is the first South Florida project seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification fromthe U.S. Green Building Council to face Inan interview, Romano said the extra cost of the building’ss green features is not the reason it fell into “The fact that the buildiny is a green building is not why the building financially is in trouble,” Romano said. “I has to do with a failure to properly and adequately financially plan the buildingb inthe beginning, and I blame myseltf for that.
” Despite a cost-conscious office-leasing the concept of green office buildings is here to according to Christian Lee, vice chairman of in Miami, and Vive Verde’w foreclosure is just one entry on a long list of commercialo foreclosures that will happen regardless of whether a buildinfg is green. He noteds that the more important factorfor Romano’s buildinh will be office demand in Lake Worth. “Building greenj adds to the cost [of a building], but in the long run, any greemn building will be more attractivde to an investorbecause it’s alreaduy green,” he said.
“Otherwise, new investorx would be figuring in the cost to make it because all commercial building s aregoing green.” Rob Hink, a LEED-accredited consultant with the Weston-basefd , agrees. “I don’t think this one foreclosurer on a green building is any commeng on the LEED system or green Ithink it’s just the economy,” he “I’m surprised because it’s a leased-up building.” He addedx that Romano’s large inner courtyard could have been downsized to fit more rentak space in the building, and yet still have retained many of the environmentalp benefits. On May 26, Fort Lee, N.J.
-based filed the foreclosure action against ViveVerde North, managiny member Romano and otheer parties associated with the according to Palm Beach County Circuigt Court records. The four-story building, at 1005 Lake in Lake Worth, was completed in Its office space is about 70percent leased, and it has two empth retail spaces, Romano said. The greej features of the building work exactly ashe hoped, he A rooftop garden catches rainwater, while condensatiojn is collected from the air conditioner for watering plantse and ponds and flushing Grey water is recycled in the water features of the The use of skylights and windowxs cuts down on electricity Many fixtures were made with recycled A sign outside advertises it as a “living building.
” goldfish swim through a pond and a statue of a Nativwe American bathes in the sunlightg in the garden. Despite the energy and watetr savings, Vive Verde North has not made any payments onthe $6.9 millioh mortgage this year, said John Hart, an attorneg with Carlton Fields in West Palm Beach who representsa Meecorp in the lawsuit. “M y client would like to get paid, but if that doesn’t come to pass, they are prepared to take title to the propert and prepare to get paidthat way, too,” Hart Vive Verde North has a $4 million second mortgags with Williamsville, N.Y.-based , whichj is named in Meecorp’s complaint.
Romano said his company got behind on mortgage payments because it ran out of moneh and could not get the loan refinancedx by atraditional bank. “It is making me physicallhy ill that this is he said. “I will continue to work night and day to make this all work These days, I’m losing a lot of sleel over it.” He said his plan for the buildiny was flawed from the beginningh because he wrote an incorrect financial plan. He said the constructionm for his first developmentr project came in on budget and its utilities operate Romano said the green featurew of Vive Verde attractedsome tenants, although several of them woulde have signed leases in the buildingt without them.
He is confident the buildinfg will earnLEED certification, but said that not opening with that designationj has not hurt the project. Romano was aiming for gold-levelk certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.