Wachovia files foreclosures in Homestead, West Palm Beach

Wachovia Bank has filed foreclosure lawsuits targeting a company that planned to redevelop a Homestead mobile home park and a warehouse owner in West Palm Beach.

The bank, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, filed a notice of foreclosure on March 4 in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court against Washington, D.C.-based Yale-Steam Associates and principal Michael Minkoff. The company owns a 37-acre mobile home park at 25120 S.W. 127th Ave., in Homestead.

The lawsuit also named the company that leased the property, Coral Gables-based Princetonian Associates, and its principals – Jorge Lopez, Stuart I. Meyers, Leon J. Wolfe and Mara Mades.

Princetonian is an affiliate of the Cornerstone Group, which has been hit with six foreclosure lawsuits in South Florida in the past year.

Wolfe did not return a call seeking comment.

Yale-Steam bought the mobile home park for $13.5 million in 2006 and obtained a $9.8 million mortgage from Wachovia with a future advance limit of up to $50 million to help pay for construction. The company secured approval for 204 apartment units, according to county records. However, construction never got under way.

Jacksonville attorney Harry M. Wilson, who represents Wachovia in the lawsuit, said he could not comment beyond what’s in the complaint.

In a separate action, Wachovia filed a notice of foreclosure on March 10 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against WREC Clare, an affiliate of Providence, R.I.-based Wasserman Real Estate Capital.

WREC bought the warehouse on 2.6 acres – at 1016 Clare Ave., in West Palm Beach – for $6.7 million in 2004 and obtained a $5 million mortgage from Wachovia. According to the developer’s Web site, it planned to use the 44,000-square-foot former warehouse as a sales center for its 550Q Condo and a design center for tenants.

A 2006 article in The New York Times described Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo painting a large, brightly colored mural on the building.

A WREC spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment. Wachovia’s lawyer, Jacksonville-based Bryan Putnal, said he could not comment beyond what’s in the complaint.

Construction stalled on WREC’s 550Q Condo, which took a $13 million mortgage from Wachovia in 2005. There is no record of a foreclosure against that property.