BankUnited seeking to foreclose on Delray beach condo

Coral Gables-based BankUnited filed a foreclosure lawsuit Monday against Savion Holdings for the Latitude Delray Beach Condominium development on the north side of Avenue L between South Dixie Highway and Southeast Sixth Avenue in Delray Beach. BankUnited, which regulators shut down in May, had given Savion Holdings $23.3 million in 2005 for the development and increased the loan to $34.8 million a year later. But after the developer only sold nine of the 84 residential units at Latitude, the FDIC stepped in and signed a loss-sharing agreement with the new bank. Isack Merenfeld, managing member of Savion, said once the FDIC stepped in, negotiating his loan became more difficult and it was not the best solution for the taxpayer, or the best alternative to get the most money out of the project. [SFBJ]