Lido Shores residents buy Longboat's Grand Mariner

BUYER: Grand Mariner on Dream Island LLC, Sarasota

SELLER: Bank of America

PROPERTY: 595 Dream Island Road, Longboat

PRICE: $9.5 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Ralph and Sheri Trine of Lido Shores purchased the prominent 14-unit Grand Mariner condominium for $9.5 million.

The price equated to $678,571 per unit.

The purchase included 20 deep-water boat slips, a pool, Jacuzzi, tennis courts, 80-foot guest dock, small boat-launching ramp, common area in the building with a large gathering room that overlooks the pool and a workout room that overlooks the lagoon.

The project has faced a string of financial and legal troubles that eventually left it in the hands of Bank of America.

Developer Dream Island LLC bought the 1.9-acre Buccaneer Inn property in 2002.

As the condominium was being constructed, Longboat Key residents Accursio Sclafani, and his wife, Doreen Erickson, sued Dream Island LLC over the development's impact on their adjacent home.

The legal battle lasted until August 2007, when the Grand Mariner's units finally were allowed to hit the market.

At the time, Tom Hires, the local investor behind the project, told the Longboat Observer that the project could have been completed in 2004 without the legal delays.

Over the next year, seven of the development's units were put under contract. But before they could close, LaSalle Bank NA filed a foreclosure suit against Dream Island LLC, claiming the developer had defaulted on $22.5 million in loans.

In 2009, Bank of America received a foreclosure judgment of more than $26 million and took over the 1.9-acre property.

Reid Murphy of Developers Realty Inc. handled the transaction and will be marketing the units for the new ownership. He says that Bank of America kept the property in great shape.

“I think the big thing it needed was a price adjustment to attract a buyer now,” Murphy says of the lower costs offered by the $9.5 million purchase price. “Hopefully we can have it up and marketable for next season.”

- Additional reporting by Robin Hartill, contributor