Smyrna Beach development site hits the auction block

About 831 wood acres in Smyrna Beach will hit the auction block July 21, killing developers Michael and Sam Nevel’s dream to build a large mixed-use development on the site, the News Journal reported.

The developers purchased the land at the northeast quadrant of Interstate 95 and State Road 44 for $23.5 million in 2007 and 2005. They intended to build commercial areas along S.R. 44 and put up about 1,400 homes in clusters in a subdivision that would have extended north to Pioneer Trail and west to Sugar Mill Road, the Journal said.

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When the market crashed, Miami-based Mellon United National Bank foreclosed on the property and won a judgment on an outstanding loan balance of $17.9 million, including $16.58 million in principal. [News Journal]