Help could be on the way for stalled condo project

Stalled more than four months ago due to problems with financing, the partially constructed Stadium Club condominiums may receive some help from a New York-based developer.

Scott Lennon, managing director of York & Pacific, LLC, said his company is “investigating the possibility” of getting involved in the financing of the proposed eight-story luxury condominium project.

“Given the circumstances of the credit market right now, it’s a very difficult project to finance,” Lennon said. “We’re seeing if we can help. It’s a great university; it’s a great city, and it’s going to be a great development.”

Meanwhile the development has been stalled at four-partially constructed stories for several months and NW 18th Street was closed to traffic since at least April.

The street opened back up this month as the development company’s building permit expired.

Erik Bredfeldt, the city’s planning and development services director, said that his office has fielded many complaints about the road’s closure.

“With the timing of a new sports season at the university, there’s just some impracticalities with having that right of way closed there,” Bredfeldt said.

Stock Real Estate Development, Inc., the company listed as the developer of the project could not be reached for comment.

The Web site for the project says 24 units will be constructed with prices ranging from about $300,000 for a one-bedroom one-bath, 861 square foot apartment to $2 million for a penthouse.

Lennon said his interest in Stadium Club came from its location just across the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, although he said the luxury condominium market is a hard sell right now.

Lennon is also the developer behind the proposed and long-discussed Creekside at Beville Run mixed-use development in an area envisioned for dense student housing.

Creekside was presented to the city and Alachua County several months ago as a mix of housing and retail in towers between five and 23 stories tall. It would be located on approximately 12 acres of land directly west of the Hilton hotel and the UF Orthopaedics and Sports Institute on SW 34th Street.

The project is large enough to require review by the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council.

That process will begin when the developer submits a pre-application, called a development of regional impact study — an application Lennon said is ready to be submitted.

“That project has got so many components tied to it with the remediation,” Lennon said. “The longer it takes, the more difficult it gets. Once we start the DRI then we’ll be OK.”