Miami-based Ocean Bank has filed a foreclosure suit against the owners of a pair of North Bay Village apartment buildings on an island in the middle of Biscayne Bay. Court records name Centerpoint Group II, Bayshore View Investments, President Yongyuth Nethongkome and managing member Siriphan Knattongcome in the $3.2 million suit. Centerpoint owns a 20-unit building at at 7929 East Drive, and owes $2.5 million on that mortgage, records said. Bayshore View owns a 24-unit apartment building at 7931 East Drive and owes $734,814.

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Travelers stretching their budgets are sticking to basics when it comes to their accommodations, and developers of no-frills hotels have taken note. Developer Robert Finvarb, who first picked out a spot six years ago next to Burger King and Route 1 for his Marriott Courtyard in Coconut Grove, will this week open the budget hotel in a much more desirable area than originally planned. The hotel, down the road from the Ritz-Carlton, has balconies overlooking Biscayne Bay. Despite the growing number of troubled commercial loans, from which South Florida is not expected to recover beforel 2011, less expensive properties have a more reliable customer base, and budget hoteliers have grown more confident about investing in South Florida as a result. [Miami Herald]