Coconut Grove hotel future unclear

Financial arrangements with a Spanish lender have clouded the outlook
for the former Wyndham Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, whose new owners want to restore
it to its former luxurious status. The 177-room hotel has been closed for over a year. Owner Merco Group, led by Homero Meruelo,
is headed to an early April trial after arrangements to turn the
property over to lender Caja de Ahorros failed. Merco Group stopped
making payments on the $38.7 million loan and it became delinquent in
March of 2009. Merco argues that the lender failed to honor the
terms of an earlier, confidential settlement over the property. [Miami
Today News]