Condo Owners Bailed Out by Realty Company

About a dozen condominium owners trapped by the fall of the housing market and under water because the condos they bought are no longer worth nearly as much as they paid for them were thrown a life preserver Tuesday.

Two of them in fact.

Mark Wimmer of Wimmer Brothers Realty, owners of The Orchard, a condo community, had offered to buy back the condos from the homeowners at their original purchase price, in some cases as much as $250,000, if the City of Greenfield agreed to let Wimmer change the use of the unfinished project from condos to luxury, leased apartments.

The city did just that Tuesday when the Common Council voted 4-1 in favor of such a switch for the development on Forest Home Avenue just north of the Greenfield-Greendale border.

Wimmer said obtaining the financial backing for the condos was no longer an option and the condo market has dried up in recent years, making the switch to apartments a necessity in his eyes. He said only one of the units has sold in the last two years, and that was a result of a foreclosure.

“We’re in a very, very different environment today than we were in 2005 when this project was first put forward,” Wimmer said. “The forecast is not very good, especially for the condo market.”

Rent for the apartments will range from $1,600 to $2,000 per month, Wimmer said.

Kenneth Jackson, who lives on nearby Brookdale Drive, was opposed to the switch to apartments because he said when he bought his home 24 years ago, he did so trying to get as far away as apartments as he could. Another neighbor expressed concerns about the apartment’s not being able to sustain the high asking price for rent.

Some of the finished but unsold condos were already being leased as apartments, which has caused problems with the condo owners.

“Renters and owners do not mix,” condo owner Kathleen Sylvester said. “We cannot sell unless we get a cash buyer and no one who knows the situation will want to buy in there.”

Condo owner Diane Lynn said the residents have been unable to gain ownership of the condo association because Wimmer still owns a majority of the units, and if she found a buyer for her unit, she’d have to take a huge financial hit.

Alderperson Pam Akers voted against the measure.

“No matter what you do, renters will be there, and not everyone is going to be happy,” she said.