Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota Mucked Up By Lawsuit
Uh oh. Hope you didn’t think the economy’s death grip on the hotel industry had loosened. Seems the bottom has dropped out from under the highly anticipated Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota.
The developers funding the massive project are in an ugly feud, with Gary Moyer suing his former business partner, the “much younger and wealthier” Zeb Portonova, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Back in early 2008, we reported the announcement for the coming hotel project, which was set to be a 225-room hotel featuring 38,000 square feet of meeting space, signature restaurants, a roof-top pool, and a swank spa. Delivery was expected in late 2010, so the project had sort of fallen off our radar. The Herald Tribune fills us in on the ugliness that has transpired since then:
The development was Moyer's brainchild and the two men nearly pulled it off. But when the economy spun out of control with the financial crisis of late 2008, access to funding evaporated and the partners began to squabble.
Unwilling to give up the dream and not accustomed to failure, Portanova offered to buy Moyer's 45.5 percent stake in Proscenium for $4.9 million upfront and as much as $49 million over time.
Moyer now claims in his lawsuit that Portanova has failed to meet his end of the bargain. Portanova -- nearly 30 years younger than the 57-year-old Moyer -- has only paid $80,000 of the money Moyer believes he is owed.
Yuck. Sounds like a mess that might take years to settle.
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