About 8,200 households sought help at the Neighborhood Assistance
Corporation of America’s loan
modification expo in West Palm Beach through yesterday afternoon,
fewer than the group had expected. The group began 24-hour-a-day
counseling sessions for homeowners and lenders on Friday morning at the
Palm Beach Convention Center. In February, around 24,000 people
attended, with 16,097 receiving a modification. As of yesterday, though,
just 13,000 people had attended the event. “For us, it doesn’t appear
to be a lot, but it still says something about what’s going on in the
country and South Florida,” said NACA spokesperson Darren Duarte. [Palm
Beach Post]

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The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which has held
several large
loan modification expos in South Florida, has postponed its planned
visit for Aug. 13. The Boston-based group, which is also known as NACA,
holds five-day, all-day sessions for struggling homeowners to meet with
on-site bank representatives. The group had been negotiating with the
Palm Beach County Convention Center, but as of Thursday had not secured a
venue in South Florida and was pushing back its visit to a date not yet
determined. During the group’s West Palm Beach event earlier this
year, an estimated 24,330 loans were worked on by NACA, with 7,550
homeowners receiving same-day modifications. [Miami
Herald]

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As expected, the Palm Beach County Commission has chosen the Related Companies as the developer for the long-awaited 400-room Palm Beach County Convention Center Hotel. Plans for a new hotel next to the convention center in West Palm Beach have failed to get off the ground on numerous occasions over the past three years. Most recently, a contract with developer Ocean Properties fell through after a federal investigation into alleged corruption in the deal. Related, which developed the massive CityPlace retail and entertainment center in Downtown West Palm Beach, was recommended for the deal by a county selection committee. Contract negotiations and financing arrangements between Related and Palm Beach County are expected to take four to six months. Once built, the hotel will operate under the Hilton Hotels brand. TRD

The officials behind Palm Beach County Convention Center’s current developmental phase haven’t found scandal so much as scorn. Three of five development groups rejected from the bidding process filed protests saying the county showed an “arbitrary and capricious” tone when it dismissed their bids for the business. FRI Investors of West Palm Beach, Grove Street Partners of Atlanta and Rose Development of Michigan all wrote letters dated Sept. 18 saying county officials didn’t know how to evaluate the prospective builders. “Procuring a hotel developer is different than procuring a copy machine,” Grove Street Partners’ James Stormont wrote. Shannon LaRocque-Baas, assistant county administrator, said a hearing could be held on the issue in November.

The Palm Beach County Convention Center hotel attracted two serious
contenders for the work after five developers submitted paperwork to
county staff, which rejected three bidders. One possible development
group includes the Related Companies of New York. Acquest Realty
Advisors of Michigan is the other contender. The rejected trio, which
includes a group consisting of real estate developer Llywd Ecclestone
Jr., FRI Investors of West Palm Beach and Westin Hotels, will have
until Sept. 18 to protest the decision. [more]