One of the oldest yacht yards in the United States—which is also the oldest continually operating business in Miami—will be auctioned on February 3, due to foreclosure.
Merrill-Stevens, founded in 1885 and operating on the Miami River since 1923, obtained a mortgage modification loan last year from Coconut Grove Bank, but the deal seems to have fallen through. According to a report in the South Florida Business Journal, the bank obtained a foreclosure judgment against Merrill-Stevens last month, for $11 million.
Coconut Grove Bank actually filed a foreclosure complaint against the yard once before, last June. It had granted the yard a $15-million mortgage for its nearly six-acre property some time prior to that, but defaults on payments led to the legal complaint. Merrill-Stevens avoided foreclosure last September after settling with Coconut Grove Bank on a new mortgage. The agreement split the $12.4 million that was still outstanding from the original loan into two portions. Hugh Westbrook, who owns the shipyard, and his wife, Carol Shields Westbrook, acquired one portion: a 29-percent interest, or $3.596 million. The Westbrooks were required to repay just that portion, called a renewal loan, and not the remainder of the split, which was $8.8 million.
According to the South Florida Business Journal article, the $11-million foreclosure judgment is partially based on an $8.6-million mortgage. The Westbrooks will still need to pay Coconut Grove Bank up to $3.6 million if the financial institution is unable to obtain at least the $8.6 million mortgage amount for the shipyard.
UPDATE, FEBRUARY 3: Coconut Grove Bank reportedly outbid two unidentified individuals today to take over the yard, for $5.6 million. It should gain official rights to the property once the court issues a certificate of title. No word on whether the bank will still attempt to recoup the renewal loan in full or in part.
Leave a Reply