Singer Island resort plays sad song for burned investors

The distinctive Resort at Singer Island, the 239-unit hotel that opened in 2007 just as the housing market was beginning to plummet, hasn’t turned out to be the profitable venture many investors were promised. At least 60 units are in foreclosure and the monthly fees for those units are adding to buyer’s financial burdens while weakening the resort’s financial health. The condo-hotel model was unsuitable, housing consultant Jack McCabe said. Owners also suffered when developer WCI Communities, which declared bankruptcy amid the crisis, sold the $210 million resort to Bethesda, Md.-based Urgo Hotels for $7.1 million. It is now part of the Marriott chain, which doesn’t draw the same high rates as the Starwood brand, under which it was originally marketed. Values for $750,000 units have dropped to as low as $240,000. [Palm Beach Post]