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MyspaceWell, that didn’t take very long.
Less than a month after publicly announcing that they were in the due diligence phase of a purchase and sale agreement to buy Naples, word came this week that CrossHarbor Capital Partners, an investment firm from Boston, and BondRok Partners, LLC, an LA-based development outfit pegged to potentially build the beloved and mostly pristine Gaviota property, have decided to pull out of the tentative deal.
Expressing his pleasure about the news, Naples Coalition lawyer Marc Chytilo, the man who represents the organization that has been working to prevent a build-out of the property since former owner Matt Osgood looked to plop several dozen McMansions on the land, opined Tuesday, “Our view has always been that this property should never be developed and this only confirms our belief.”
Since the spring of 2010, Missouri’s First Bank has owned the Naples property after Osgood defaulted on his $63 million loan with the bank. And while there have been a handful of rumored suitors for the property and its approved development plan, the BondRok/CrossHarbor camp was the first to be serious enough to actually take meetings with county officials in recent weeks.
Though calls to First Bank and CrossHarbor by The Santa Barbara Independent were not returned as of press time, according to sources within the county, the purchase agreement was “mutually terminated” by both the would-be developers and the bank.
Related Links
- Boston Investment Firm Ready to Write Check for Gaviota Property [ March 22, 2012 ]
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Comments
Good news!
CrossHarbor has access to a lot of money and is politically well-connected so they were, in my mind, a real development threat.
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
June 13, 2012 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Warning: The first post above mine is spam trying to sell you an "investment".
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
June 13, 2012 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
awwwww, break my heart....NOT! This all kind of makes me wonder, if the state or county can't step up and purchase the ocean side of the property eventually some out of town jackwagon developer is going to get a hold of the property and buy a majority in the County Sups. Do any of you remember Willie Chamberlin and the Bacara and Winchester Commons? Before Chamberlin was booted for incorrect election results, he pushed a couple projects thru that I think weren't in the best interest of the area, nor would have gone thru in their present state. Hopefully, this will not happen again, and a local developer will engage this area constructively with some caring about more than their pocket book.
bimboteskie (anonymous profile)
June 13, 2012 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It will be very difficult to find a developer that is not concerned with his or her pocket book. The best hope for Naples is for a very rich person to buy it, build a huge mansion on some part of it, make a deal with the Coastal Commission on some kind of access to the surf spot, and make some kind of tax deal with the County in exchange for a conservation easement on the bulk of the property. The problem is that there are very few if any very rich surfers out there. Alas, we're a simple middle-class lot for the most part.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
June 13, 2012 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here is my dream! A "philanthropist"( or group of them) will buy the property; make it a "limited use park"; and deed the property to the "Land Trust" as a "not to be developed"! And it could have "hiking trails through it"! what a great result that could be!
A lot like the "Hot Springs " property in Montecito! That is my dream!
Then it will hopefully, be adopted by some other agency to restore the native plants.....so it can become wildlife habitat instead of one big lawn.(it looks like a big lawn; is it as bare as it appears? Why?)
Trees, shrubs.....all native. I bet volunteers will come do the work! And maybe even nurseries will donate native plants! The wildlife will come back; Nature will be available for children to go on trails through.....and humans and animals will benefit! Children can hike instead of spending too much time in front of "screens"!
What a wonderful thing that this land can avoid development!
Does someone have to actually purchase it to prevent its development?
I want to help!
penelopebianchi (anonymous profile)
June 15, 2012 at 12:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There are certainly enough wealthy environmentalist entertainment world folks who live in Santa Barbara county who can buy this land and preserve it.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
June 15, 2012 at 1:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is a good day indeed! If all the above positive people are not already involved with the Naples Coalition, they might consider joining forces and working toward a solution. Check out the history and progress of this battle at www.savenaples.org and send them an email!
gaviotapowerranger (anonymous profile)
June 15, 2012 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)