Interesting. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Magnolia Green, a GINORMOUS planned community in Chesterfield County, is back in active development with Atack Development as "the local contact in charge of construction, marketing, homeowner communications and the liaison with the county." When I say ginormous, I mean Woodlake size - 3,500+ homes are planned, with retail and commercial development as well.
What makes this story interesting is the fact that Magnolia Green is owned by THE LENDER that foreclosed on the property last year. So now it appears that iStar Financial Inc. is in the business of owning and even developing real estate. Usually lenders don't like to own property, much less actively develop it.
We'll see how this goes. Will we see more lenders taking property back and then trying to develop it themselves? Maybe this is the lending industry's version of "too big to fail." Only time will tell.


Comments