Hyatt Coconut Plantation Owners received an important email from the Board of Directors today. Here is the text for anyone interested:
On behalf of the Coconut Plantation Board of Directors we would like to present a clarification and update to the recent communication all owners received from Troy Asche last Friday May 5th.
First, there seems to be some confusion as to all the involved parties in this email. The Pelican Landing Timeshare Venture L. P. (the developer), H. V. Global Management Corporation (the manager), and the Management Company are all part of the same company, Marriott Vacations Worldwide MVW. MVW is a multinational multi billion dollar company and all the references made by Mr. Asche refers to the company he works for. The Association, of course, refers to the owners' Board of Directors. The buyer is the London Bay Group.
Those of us that have been owners for a number of years can recall the very impressive plot plan display at the sales center showing all 14 condo buildings along with all the amenities for the Coconut Plantation. It was indeed very impressive with all the pools, lazy river, playground area, volleyball and basketball courts, saunas, hot tubs, a lobby area, a private beach etc. etc. At the time we all wondered how all these amenities would be paid for in as much as they were already built and only 2 buildings had been constructed. We were all told not to worry that the developer (MVW) has set up a subsidy plan and an annual budget payment would be made toward the shared area expenses based upon the number of actual built condo units versus the eventual planned total of 339 units. Subsequently a 3rd and 4th building were built and the annual payment was reduced accordingly to the present level of 72%. The 4 existing buildings have a total of 96 units and represent 28% of the total buildout leaving the 72% as the obligation of the developer. Additionally, 2 times over the last 21 years the land and development rights have been sold, Hyatt to ILG, and ILG to MVW and both times the obligation to pay the annual percentage of shared area expenses went with the land and have been paid.
Last February 2022 Mr. Asche informed the Board of Directors that MVW intended to sell the land to the London Bay Group. At subsequent board meetings in the spring, summer and early fall Mr. Asche reiterated the same information stating that the scheduled closing date had been pushed forward and that some of the initial terms had been changed. He also indicated that he was working at the corporate level to secure a financial package for the ownership in lieu of the annual shared area obligation. In early November the board was presented with an offer of 8.6 million dollars, to be paid over a 7-year period. As part of the deal, the board was asked to approve and sign a document called the Voluntary Shared Area Contribution drafted by MVW. In discussions among the board members, it was decided to seek legal counsel with respect to this deal. The board was particularly concerned that the text of the document was different from the verbal communications that were conveyed by MVW.
The Board of Directors legal counsel found that MVW simply could not walk away from the shared area expenses obligation simply by selling the land and declaring that they were done building out the Coconut Plantation. In late December the Coconut Plantation Board of Directors formally rejected the offer from MVW. As a matter of due diligence, the board employed a second legal firm for a second opinion and they concurred with the first one. Over the next few months, the Board of Directors offered several potential compromises to MVW and each time they were rejected by MVW. As recently as 1 week before the land closing the Board was willing to seek out common ground to settle the issue but MVW essentially made it a take it or leave it offer. We were told that the land sale was going through and that MVW would file new documents and would no longer pay for their part of the shared area expenses.
That brings us to Troy Asche’s email last Friday. The board would like each and every owner to know that every effort has been made to secure the best position for the ownership and weighed the following. The sum of 8.6 million dollars is no small sum but MVW stands to save nearly double that amount over the same period, taking into account for inflation. MVW is a multi billion dollar corporation that is not in financial trouble. They are not desperate for cash and did not need to sell the land at the Coconut Plantation to raise funds. Last year MVW had sales of 4.6 billion dollars and a gross profit of 2.1 billion dollars. Just last week MVW announced the first quarter sales and earnings and they are on track to meet and exceed last year’s numbers. In the first quarter MVW sold 375 million dollars worth of vacation packages (points) and the cost of packages sold was 58 million dollars. These numbers have come directly from MVW ‘s corporate website. This is certainly something to think about when a sales and marketing person asks you if you want to take your owners' update meeting that turns into a sales presentation to sell you more points. The Board feels that this entire issue is nothing more than corporate greed at its worst and will continue to push back in the interest of the owners.
The Board of Directors has employed the services of an outstanding legal firm that will bring legal action to expose MVW for who they really are and do everything in our power to protect the investment of each and every owner. The board will continue to communicate directly with all of you as we continue with this effort. Thank you so much for your continued support. It is greatly appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly if you have any questions or concerns moving forward.
Coconut Plantation Board of Directors,
Rick Rudd President
Rick Lohr. V. President
Bob Cherundolo. Director
Mike Greenaway. Director
