By Carl Helton, LC staff
Yehuda Netanel bought himself another week for The Lake District after the planned foreclosure today (9.8.17) was delayed seven days.
Josh Roman, Lakeland vice mayor, said, “The 2 p.m. announcement today was that the foreclosure sale was pushed to Sept. 15 at 2 o’clock. Apparently they have to work on the details of the agreement.”
The property was set to be auctioned at 11 a.m. today on the Shelby County Courthouse steps. However Mr. Netanel submitted a bid for the property prior to the auction. The urban village development is to be on the site of the former Factory Outlet Mall at Canada Road and I-40.
Mr. Roman said the auction today does not impact the pending contract Mr. Netanel has with Belz Corp. to buy adjacent property to complete his development. He also believes that while there is a chance Mr. Netanel could still lose the property, “It looks much less likely if he put up sizeable funds today.”
Commissioner Matt Wright said it’s his understanding that Mr. Netanel made a $1 million payment to the lender today. He also stated, “Mr. Netanel also brought a $20,000 check to City Hall to cover legal expenses.”
Mr. Netanel’s company is Gilad Development Corp based in California. He announced The Lake District 17 months ago to a packed audience in Lakeland. Since then, the only activity on the site has been demolition of two pole signs.
The project is to encompass 160+ acres and offer retail, restaurants, office space and residential.
Mr. Netanel came before the Lakeland Industrial Development Board IDB) last month to ask for a development agreement. He said that would help him secure tenants for the project. However, the meeting took place on the heels of the foreclosure notice and the IDB did not approve the request.
Just last week Mr. Netanel came before a called meeting of the IDB requesting the same agreement. The Board approved the agreement with caveats. See the story here: https://lakelandcurrents.com/could-tld-be-back-on-track/
Courthouse photo today by Carl Helton.
