A long-delayed high-rise project in Fort Myers is at the center of controversy as people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to live there now fear they may have lost their money as the site and now the building they operated out of remain vacant.
Prima Luce promised two 22-story towers right on the water in downtown Fort Myers. However, the project has been met with delays for years.
The Prima Luce project was first announced in 2016. Nine years later, it's still an empty river front property and so is the office they operated out of along First Street, where they’ve been taking deposits from wannabe condo owners for years.
Marc Payson lives in New Jersey and bought at Prima Luce in April of 2022. He put down a nearly $100,000 deposit on his luxurious dream home.
“I obviously was very excited because the renderings, the visuals all looked like an amazing community that was going to be built in Fort Myers,” Payson said.
He and dozens of others invested thousands in this waterfront oasis, which, according to renderings, was supposed to offer a stunning view of the Caloosahatchee River.
Payson said he became worried shortly after making his deposit, suspecting something was amiss.
The two-year completion date he was promised never came.
“I wanted to get the full escrow amount because I felt there was no shot this was ever going to vertical,” Payson said.
He wasn't alone. Bryan Montgomery invested thousands on his dream property seven years ago and still has nothing to show for it.
“It's just about to start here any minute now has happened so many times I think it does warrant an investigation,” Montgomery said.
Gulf Coast News has reported on delays facing the project for years. Back in 2020, COVID slowed down the project, and in 2022, a hurricane left a boat on the property, and it was also blamed for a slowdown.
The developer confirmed he's been hit with funding issues and a lawsuit.
Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said the project doesn’t smell good and now calls the eight-year project extremely concerning after being flooded with complaints.
“I have requested the police department to take a look at it to see if there are any red flags. They have not come back with anything yet,” Anderson revealed.
Bob MacFarlane is the Prima Luce Developer who points to numerous issues as the reason for the delays.
“Between the COVID and we got hit with the hurricanes. All of the permitting process, yes, there has been delays,” MacFarlane said.
He also blamed architectural problems along with what he described as outdated and complicated laws and rezoning issues.
“It's not an excuse at all. It just takes time to go through everything I've mentioned,” MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane lost funding for the project last year. If he didn't find another bank he was at risk of foreclosure.
“We have finally received a full approval from a lender. We have signed the transaction,” MacFarlane said.
While he refused to share the funding documents, he did allow Gulf Coast News to see what appeared to be an approval letter.
When asked if he still had plans to complete the project, MacFarlane said yes.
“I expect we will break ground. I'm going to say by the end of March. You can figure on 18 months to complete,” MacFarlane promised.
When asked if he would return the money to those who made deposits, he responded yes.
“It goes into escrow, their cash is replaced and returned, and the escrow is returned to a new buyer,” MacFarlane explained.
However, one day after this interview Gulf Coast News obtained foreclosure documents which order the Prima Luce property to be sold at auction on March 13th at 9am to the highest cash bidder, something MacFarlane didn't disclose in our interview.
However, days later, he shared a debt schedule, saying once the new funding source monies land in his account, all of his debts will be satisfied, and it (the foreclosure sale) should go away.