The Gardens timeshare in Orlando.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

The Gardens at Orlando.

I was in that area about four months ago and drove by.. I had an ex-employee who was friends with one of the developers and at one time I had considered helping them with marketing.

The condition of the surrounding property was appalling..

It is set back behind a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, the Parliament House.. The businesses all seem to be tied together, and the nightclub was having big financial issues a few months back (Parliament House faces foreclosure - Orlando Sentinel).

To start with, the area is one that has seen much better days.

You pull into the Club parking area, and there is a long drive which leads back to the Gardens development. The drive is marked by a chain link fence on one side with that construction plastic designed to stop debris. The grass and weeds were actually growing taller than the fence! It looked like an abandoned construction area (which in reality it may be).. I'm guessing the extra land was originally intended to be the site for additional buildings.

I believe there is one building at the end of the drive, not sure how many units. On the day I drove by, there were a total of two cars in the parking area.

I think the niche marketing concept was a good idea for Orlando, but I think the economy and perhaps the location have almost killed it.. I remember some of the original marketing material for the development, and I don't think that the planned amenities were ever developed.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

I split this part off a seperate thread as a new article is out with an update on the bankruptcy proceeding for this resort.

I just don't understand modern finances I guess, as the owner appears to be planning to exit bankruptcy with a multi-million dollar expansion project???

Parliament House expands the Gardens timeshares - OrlandoSentinel.com

"...In a tangled financial web best described by a Houston lawyer as a "complicated situation," the Parliament House's foreclosure and its debt with Compass Bank of Alabama is expected to be resolved within the next two weeks.

Owner Don Granatstein this week said: "Overall, we come out way better off."

Compass Bank and Houston-based Southwest Guaranty Ltd. initiated foreclosure actions against the property on North Orange Blossom Trail last July over a $7.5 million mortgage that had matured at the end of 2009. Southwest faced its own financial problems with a bankruptcy filing, which was dismissed several months ago, said Ed Rothberg, an attorney for Southwest....

....Decorated on Valentines Day with posters for a "Love Bites" show and an upcoming concert by performer Kaci Battaglia, the Parliament House was showing some wear and tear from the past four decades. Granatstein said he is in the process of meeting with contractors who he said will transform the outdated hotel rooms into something akin to a "nice Holiday Inn." He also plans to remodel the several on-site bars, including the famed Disco Bar.

Located behind the Parliament House on the edge of Rock Lake, the first phase of the Gardens time shares was completed in 2006. The 18-unit building features 14-foot ceilings, granite counters, bathing tubs with lights and water jets, and 10-foot-wide showers decked with travertine tile. Granatstein said he sold deeded time shares, offering a week's stay annually, for $10,000 to $15,000 each to about 900 buyers. Immediate plans call for adding a pool, boat dock and workout room to the Gardens, prior to starting construction on four more buildings.

Driving around his property earlier this week, Granatstein said he was also negotiating the acquisition of the foreclosed Full Moon Saloon property next door. If that deal works out, he said, he would keep it largely intact and market it for patrons known as "bears" for their no-nonsense demeanor."

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And we wonder what is wrong with financial systems around the world!