Swamplot Archives by Tag: Allen Stanford

Monday, February 23, 2009

Takara So and Beyond: More of Allen Stanford’s Houston Real Estate Ventures

February 23, 2009 – 8:04 am
   

Long before the Stanford Lofts debacle, Guardian International Investment Services — Allen Stanford’s former real-estate company — bought and sold or developed a number of Houston properties. Nancy Sarnoff follows the trail: “The properties include the 77-unit Takara So at 1919 W. Main and the 66-unit Severne at 7650 Moonmist. They were later sold, according to records from the Harris County Appraisal District. In 1989, Stanford built the patio home project [on Mimosa Drive, just east of Kirby and south of San Felipe], which he named Stanford Oaks, and hired [Martha] Turner’s company as the exclusive marketing agent to sell the homes. They started at about $400,000. Turner said the company didn’t have to borrow money to get it built. ‘They had their own money. They were financing their own stuff,’ she said. A couple years later, Guardian started a new enclave of homes called Le
 Voisinage on Bammel Lane south of West Alabama.” [Houston Chronicle]

8:04 am | Add a Comment | Read more about Apartments, Development Strategy, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing
Read more about: , , ,
Friday, February 20, 2009

Allen Stanford’s Downtown Houston Loft Legacy: Tell it to the Arbitrator

February 20, 2009 – 1:36 pm

Allen Stanford’s international “banking” empire is falling apart. How’s his work as a Houston real estate developer holding up?

Stanford Development Corporation still owns a couple of units on the top floor of the Stanford Lofts, the 5-story East Downtown condo building topped with a starred tiara that the company completed in 2002, just a few blocks east of Minute Maid Park. But owning the condos didn’t prevent the condo owners association from filing a construction-defect lawsuit against the Stanford Lofts developers and builders in 2007, charging Stanford Development with “breach of contract, Deceptive Trade Practices, breach of warranty, fraud, and negligent design, construction, and supervision.”

The summary of problems with the building included in the original complaint is 9 pages long, and includes failure to meet building codes, wall cracks and leaks, structural movement, and a series of defects causing continuing problems with water infiltration. The repair estimate: more than $2 million.

The case has dragged on for some time. Attorneys for the Stanford Condo Owners Association complained that Stanford Development was dragging its feet, arguing last year in response to a stay request:

Continue Reading This Story >

1:36 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Buying and Selling, Condos, Construction Problems, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: East Downtown
Read more about: , , , , , , , , ,
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Feds Now Raiding Stanford Financial Group Offices in the Galleria

February 17, 2009 – 11:46 am

From the New York Times website this morning:

Shortly after 10 a.m. Central time, about 40 police officers and other law enforcement officials simultaneously entered Stanford Group’s two office buildings in Houston. Many of the law enforcement personnel carried large black briefcases. Stanford group’s headquarters are in two offices in Houston, one within a tower of the Houston Galleria shopping mall, and the other across the street.

Photo of Stanford Financial Group Offices, 5050 Westheimer: Stanford Financial Group

11:46 am | 5 Comments | Read more about Crime, Fraud, Neighborhoods: Galleria
Read more about: , , , ,
Friday, February 13, 2009

How Allen Stanford Made Those First Hundred Millions

February 13, 2009 – 5:00 pm
   

The chairman of Stanford Financial Group — whose operations have recently caught the attention of the SEC, FBI, and IRS — romped in the wreckage of early 1980s Houston real estate: “Stanford and his father went around to the presidents of various banks, offering those seeking liquidity an easy out: ‘For a period of 28 months we were probably the only people in Harris County buying real estate.’ They ended up owning dozens of properties, including a 256-unit apartment complex they bought from a pension fund for $970,000, or $3,800 per unit–this at a time when the median home price in Houston was $68,900. Over the next ten years, as the economy and real estate began to recover, Stanford and his father made what he describes as several hundred million (aftertax) dollars.” [Forbes]

5:00 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Quicklink, Real Estate Investing
Read more about: ,