Vortex for sale

[Me]

I apologize if this was posted elsewhere, a quick search indicated it had not. Mods, Feel fee to delete.

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Vortex Springs Resort Foreclosure

I just read this on Craigslist.

VORTEX SPRING RESORT FORECLOSURE

VORTEX SPRING DIVING RESORT FORECLOSURE SALE NOTICE:

Vortex Spring which is a fresh water spring (natural resource), diving resort and swimmers paradise along with an 8 inch monitoring well on site for drinking and water bottling purposes, is located in Ponce de Leon, Florida.

In April of 2007 the property was sold , foreclosure action was pursued and currently the property is scheduled for a foreclosure sale on the steps of the Holmes County, Florida Court House on October 18, 2012 at 11:00 AM. The final judgment amount is $13,765,782.33 USD. This information can be verified thru the following link: Holmes Clerk of Court Home Page

The Foreclosure sale can be stopped upon satisfaction of the judgment, which also means that it can be purchased pre-foreclosure sale.

Vortex Spring Resort consists of 3 adjoining parcels that total 419.62 +/- and the heart of the property is the freshwater spring. These parcels are continuous acreages and are located 4.8 miles North of Interstate 10 corridor, Exit 96 on Hwy 81 North.

Listed below you will find each of the Parcel ID numbers and the legal descriptions. This information can be verified thru the following link: Welcome to the Holmes County Property Appraiser's Office

Parcel ID: 1808.00-000-000-012.000
Legal Description: S1/2 OF NE1/4 LESS 3 AC TORD #181 OR 86/708 OR 244/526 LESS 19.2 AC OR 269/869 WD- OR413/445 QC-OR426/34 QC-OR425/708

Parcel ID: 1809.00-000-000-008.000
Legal Description: THAT PART OF W1/2 OF SE1/4N OF COUNTY RD OR 128/32 DES IN OR 158/356 WD-OR413/445 ALSO COMMENCING AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE NW1/4 OF SECTION 9, T-4-N, R-17-W, HOLMES COUNTY, FLORIDA, RUN S89ø03'34"E, ALONG THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID NWL/4, 98'0.15 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING; THENCE RUN NOO-24'22"W, 182.81 FEET; THENCE N89ø34'43"E, 135.78 FEET; THENCE NOO-06'16"W, 267.21 FEET; THENCE N89ø52'17"E, 70.74 FEET TO THE WATER'S EDGE OF VORTEX SPRING; THENCE ALONG THE WATER'S EDGE OF SAID SPRING THE FOLLOWING COURSES: S24ø02'57"E 69.10 FEET; THENCE S51ø03'25"E, 60.47 FEET; THENCE N85ø44'29"E, 76.41 FEET; THENCE N52ø25'53"E 45.13 FEET; THENCE N17ø52'05"E, 81.21 FEET; THENCE N01ø39'O1"E, 43.75 FEET; THENCE N35ø34'02"E, 24.79 FEET; THENCE N70-15'15"E, 24.60 FEET; THENCE DEPARTING SAID WATER'S EDGE, RUN S59ø46'39"E ALONG A FOUR FOOT CHAIN LINK FENCE, 154.80 FEET; THENCE CONTINUE ALONG FENCE S48ø34'15"E, 116.56 FEET; THENCE CONTINUE ALONG SAID FENCE, S05ø02'59"E, 314.74 FEET TO THE END OF SAID FENCE; THENCE CONTINUE S05ø02'59"E, 75.81 FEET TO THE SOUTH LINE OF THE NW1/4 OF SECTION 9; THENCE N89ø03'34"W ALONG SAID LINE,711.26 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. WD-OR413/445 QC-OR426/34 QC-OR425/708

And

Parcel ID: 1809.00-000-000-009.000
Legal Description: 61/711 COMMENCING AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE NW1/4 OF SECTION 9, T-4-N, R-17-W, HOLMES COUNTY, FLORIDA, RUN S89ø03'34"E, ALONG THE SOUTH LINE OF SAID NW1/4, 98'0.15 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING; THENCE RUN NOO-24'22"W, 182.81 FEET; THENCE N89ø34'43"E, 135.78 FEET; THENCE NOO-06'16"W, 267.21 FEET; THENCE N89ø52'17"E, 70.74 FEET TO THE WATER'S EDGE OF VORTEX SPRING; THENCE ALONG THE WATER'S EDGE OF SAID SPRING THE FOLLOWING COURSES: S24ø02'57"E 69.10 FEET; THENCE S51ø03'25"E, 60.47 FEET; THENCE N85ø44'29"E, 76.41 FEET; THENCE N52ø25'53"E 45.13 FEET; THENCE N17ø52'05"E, 81.21 FEET; THENCE N01ø39'O1"E, 43.75 FEET; THENCE N35ø34'02"E, 24.79 FEET; THENCE N70-15'15"E, 24.60 FEET; THENCE DEPARTING SAID WATER'S EDGE, RUN S59ø46'39"E ALONG A FOUR FOOT CHAIN LINK FENCE, 154.80 FEET; THENCE CONTINUE ALONG SAID FENCE S48ø34'15"E, 116.56 FEET; THENCE CONTINUE ALONG SAID FENCE, S05ø02'59"E, 314.74 FEET TO THE END OF SAID FENCE; THENCE CONTINUE S05ø02'59"E, 75.81 FEET TO THE SOUTH LINE OF THE NW1/4 OF SECTION 9; THENCE N89ø03'34"W ALONG SAID LINE,711.26 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. CONTAINS 6.0 ACRES, MORE OR LESS. LIFE EST WD-OR413/445 QC-OR425/708

Vortex Spring Resort was developed and owned by divers who have a true love for freshwater springs. The spring itself sits in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and majestic pines. It has a flow rate of nearly 28 million gallons of gin clear water per day and maintains a temperature of 68 degrees year round. The spring basin is 50 feet deep at the mouth of the ledge-like cavern and for the more experienced diver there is an additional 100 yards of diving that is a garage sized tunnel and reaches a depth of 115 feet.
Vortex Spring Resort is known as one of the largest diving facilities in the State of Florida. There are student training platforms at the 20 foot level along with a talk box for the instructor. Divisions of EMS from around the country have used this resort for their own training facility as well as dive centers from all along the Gulf Coast and beyond. Vortex Spring Resort brings individual divers on a weekly basis from all over the United States and abroad. It has been referred to as "The Mecca of Dive Training" per Southern Diver Magazine and to this day still upholds that title. On site PADI instructors offer the following classes for certification: Discover Scuba, Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air Nitrox, First Responder (CPR), Rescue Diver, Dive Master and Cavern/Cave Diving.
In addition to Diving, Vortex Spring Resort offers canoeing, swimming with diving boards, slides, zip line, an old fashioned rope swing and snorkeling. There are also Camping Facilities to include Cabins, Lodges, Pull thru sites, primitive sites and upscale lodging. The campground is well lit and offers a bath house, picnic tables, grills, electricity and RV sewage dump station on property. There are nature trails, ATV trails, horse trails, motor cross track, go cart track and a full service dive shop/camp store to cater to all of the customer's needs.

This property includes the 1800 sq foot manager's home/classroom/office facility and the option of the 7800 sq foot main residence and 3200 sq ft private garage pre-foreclosure.

Vortex Spring is a privately owned Natural Resource, a freshwater spring and has surrounding acreages that help to support it. It has been more than proven to be an excellent training facility on public and EMS levels as well as a great source for public recreation due to all of the amenities this property offers.

In addition to the Natural Resource there are miles of trails already developed and there is plenty of room for expansion of all existing trails. There is also plenty of land to dedicate to forestland and wetlands that are created by nearby creeks and flow from the spring itself.

The surrounding acreages to this property are also available if it is so desired.

Vortex Spring Resort has been developed, managed and maintained by the Dockery family for over 35 years. It has been a true labor of love as the developer/owner of Vortex Spring who was also a diver and the creator of the Divers Down Flag.
Just a few web sites for your reference:
Florida Springs, Springs in Florida, Florida Cave Diving, Manatee Viewing - Florida's Springs: Protecting Nature's Gems - Florida DEP - Vortex Spring
Welcome to Vortex Spring, Florida's Gulf Coast Premier Inland Diving Resort
A Journey Through Americana: Day 18 - Day Off--Vortex Spring:
Dive Flags
This is the copy taken from the Holmes County Clerk of Court's Web Site.
FORECLOSURE SALES
The Holmes County Clerk's Office provides these records in its office and over the Internet as a public service.
If you are interested in bidding on a foreclosed property, it is recommended that you come into the Court Department of the Holmes County Clerk's Office to physically review the files we have on each foreclosure. You can also obtain information regarding future foreclosure sales by researching the legal ad section of the Holmes County Times- Advertiser. The foreclosures are published once a week for two consecutive weeks before the sale takes place.
To find out more about the property you may view the Holmes County Property Appraiser's Website at Welcome to the Holmes County Property Appraiser's Office.
If you wish to bid on a foreclosure, you must appear in person at the sale. All bids are for cash, cashier's check, or pre-approved check. Successful bidder must post five percent (5%) of the final bid at the time of the sale, with the final payment due by 4:00 P.M. on the day of the sale.
Successful bidder must pay the following in addition to the deposit:
Registry of the Court Fee -- (3% of first $500 and 1.5% of balance of bid)
Documentary Stamps for Certificate of Title -- ($.70 per $100 or fraction
thereof)
Potential buyers take the property as is. Subject to any defects, liens, encumbrances, and all matters of which buyer had notice or could have obtained knowledge, including matters pertaining to current tenants.
The following properties are scheduled to be sold to the highest bidder at the front door of the Holmes County Courthouse:

Sale Date: October 18, 2012 Denzel Dockery, et al vs. LBK, LLC, et al
Case No. 08-370CA Final Judgment: $13,765,782.33usd

If you are interested in receiving any further information you may email me thru Craigslist or call (850) 259-0370.
Thank you for your consideration.

[Jont]

Does anyone have any information about this, foreclosure sales like this are rarely what the public thinks they are.

Odds are this is just part of a restructuring plan by the current owners, but I'm interested in taking a look.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

The last owner died. Lowell Kelly bought the resort from the Dockery's in 2007 and earlier this year got drunk and fell down the stairs of the Grandview Lodge. One of his buddies brought him to his house and dumped him in the shower, where he went into a coma. He died a week later or so in the hospital. Atleast thats the story the newspapers told, Mr Kelly wasn't exactly the most loved person in existance.

I heard he was already behind on payments anyway.

[RN]

Well, one of the stories is he fell down the steps drunk. There are other stories out there about what possibly happened. Also, he died about a month and a half or so later. But I'm just nitpicking. Eduardo introduced me to Lowell a few years back and Lowell asked me questions regarding offering trimix fills. It sounded like he was looking for ways to bring more money into the business. I told him at the time that it would take him lots of trimix fills to make back the money he would need to invest to do them.

So I wonder if Vortex will be closed to diving after October 18. And what are the shops that use it for training going to do, especially when Morrison is blown out?

[Jont]

These auctions are regularly postponed but even if it happens very little will change "the day after", most of the time this is nothing more then a formality for the entity that holds a secured interest thats usually first in line. I don't have nearly enough fact to represent this but I've bankrupted properties and stopped servicing debt just to put lenders in a position of weakness in order to renegotiate debt/equity as the case may be, so I understand the business.

Without going off on a tangent this is what I need to know for starters...very basic things:

1) Was the alleged event in 2007 a sale?
2) Title was transferred from who to who?
3) The purchase price?
4) The capital stack on the property in detail: PP, equity raised, secured interests form 1st to X.
5) Who initiated the foreclosure?
6) The total amount paid to the various creditors since the sale broken down
7) 5 years financials (or as many as possible) for all existing revenue streams (to prove NOI).
8) Any tax incentives and an understanding of the possible impact on NOI
9) Unexploited possible revenue streams

and

10) Owner/future seller expectations and this is where things get tricky.

2007 was the pinnacle of a real estate boom.
[EDITED - No political bashing. You can't do it, then say, "I'll refrain from rendering an opinion." You're warned. ]
Every seller in the USA was expecting (and getting) prices that were absurd but because the cost of money was cheap financing looked like it made sense....at least short term.

So if the 2007 deal was lets say 10MM today the available revenue stream based on the equivalent CAP rate may be 6MM now most business people understand this and in the end will concede but the reality is much worse since the availability of debt has been compromised and equity partners are an endangered species this property in all likelihood, given the location, is worth between 20 and 50 % of the 2007 sale price.

When money was cheap WALLGREENS DRUG STORES were trading at between a 5 and 8 CAP rate, 5 CAPS for the best locations in the most populated areas of New York, Chicago, Florida, etc.

8 CAPS were for the less densely populated areas, the point is with a tenant like WALGREENS the risk is low because they are the best in the business.

Today CAP rates are higher and the sophisticated property owner knows one thing......DONT SELL, its a sign of weakness.

I would be very interested in exploring a possible opportunity at VORTEX so if you know something or someone please let me know.

[Jont]

Uhhh. I'm warned....warn away...what I said was not a bashing SQUIRL GIRL, I stated the source that eventually gave way to the rapid expansion of the credit markets, just because someone started something doesn't mean that the result was its intent. Perhaps its your negative outlook, assumption and lack of knowladge that needs work rather then my statement of FACT........

[Squirrel Girl]

Uhhh. I'm warned....warn away...what I said was not a bashing SQUIRL GIRL, I stated the source that eventually gave way to the rapid expansion of the credit markets, just because someone started something doesn't mean that the result was its intent. Perhaps its your negative outlook, assumption and lack of knowladge that needs work rather then my statement of FACT........

I am not as unknowledgeable as you assume (perhaps it's your negative outlook? ). I edited it out because we instituted a rule about bashing political parties (which basically calling out a political administration is). Your opinions (and selective referencing) regarding the source of the real estate market problems is irrelevant to the thread about Vortex.

[kwinter]

I think Jon should be able to bash away at whatever political party he wants as soon as he ponies up $13MM to buy his own private spring playground and let me play in it.

[OFG-1]

Lets see, $13,000,000.00 dollars and we can charge $19.00 per diver.....aw hell, it will only take 684,000 divers and the place is paid for. If we can get 60,000 of them to rent a cabin, then hell, we will be rich. Where do we sign up???

[SuPrBuGmAn]

So I wonder if Vortex will be closed to diving after October 18. And what are the shops that use it for training going to do, especially when Morrison is blown out?

They have plenty of other options, suck it up and dive the gulf, suck it up and boat to Cypress, suck it up and drive further... or reschedule. Maybe it'll actually slow down the mass production of bad divers to some extent? LOL


FWIW, Connie(Doc's daughter who ran the place before Lowell bought the resort) is running the place again. I used to laugh at her chasing drunks outta Vortex with cattle prods.