Edenmoor sale finalized Friday

A little more than three years after its former developer walked away from the project, Indian Land’s Edenmoor residential development has new owners.
Edenmoor Land Acquisition LLC (ELA), a partnership between Saybrook Municipal Opportunity Funds IV of Santa Monica, Calif., and LStar Management LLC of Raleigh, N.C., closed on the 850-acre development late Friday, Oct. 28.
“Our first priority is for the Edenmoor community to be a great place for the current homeowner families to live,” Saybrook co-portfolio manager Jon Schotz said in a press release announcing the closing.
“We know that we can create a desirable community, which will attract the best builders in the region and make this a place where more families will want to live,” he said.
Friday’s closing brought to an end a process that began in October 2008, when three contractors working on the project filed $2.2 million in liens against the original developer, Lawson’s Bend LLC.
Afterward, the development sat in limbo as those originally involved in the project distanced themselves from it. Over the years, the development began to fall apart with erosion and other environmental problems causing its infrastructure to crumble.
Correcting problems
Schotz said the company’s first order of business this week is to begin addressing those problems, starting with erosion stabilization and road repairs. Landscaping and beautification projects will come later.
“We’ve invested $20 million in the project already and we’re going to invest more because there’s safety issues that need to be addressed,” Schotz said. “We look forward to this being a successful project and to getting things back on track.”
Schotz said in keeping with the original contract, ELA is completing work on an Emergency Medical Services station on U.S. 521, which will be turned over to Lancaster County.
Most of the work consists of upfitting the building’s air conditioning and it should be ready to turn over in coming weeks, he said.
The company will also complete the development’s $4.2 million park and clubhouse, which has been severely damaged by vandalism. Schotz said the project should be completed by spring.
After years of false starts, longtime Edenmoor home-owners such as Wanda Rosa said they’re cautiously optimistic, their hopes buoyed not only by the fact that the company closed, but other developments.
“So many of us have been through so much, we’ve been skeptical until it really happened,” Rosa said. “I think, basically, we were so pleased that it actually closed; and them doing things like forgiving our assessments (for a year) was a really smart step for them to take to show us they’re trying to do good things for us.
“Folks are holding their breath, but I personally have a good feeling about it and believe that, at this point, things are finally moving forward and we’re going to see it flourish,” she said.
Another longtime resident, Ernie Holmes, was also cautiously optimistic, his comment short and to the point.
“I hope this is the end of a long nightmare,” Holmes said.
Schotz said he could understand homeowners wanting to withhold judgment.
“The homeowners have been in touch with some of our people, and I think they’re happy we were able to forbear their assessments and I think they’ll be happy when they see work beginning on the property,” Schotz said.
“We can’t control what happened before we purchased the bonds,” he said. “We’ve done everything we’ve said we were going to do. I hope they’ll measure us by what we’ve done from the time we got involved ... and I think we’re all moving in the right direction.”
Saybrook’s involvement in the purchase began in July when it bought the $32 million in outstanding bonds associated with the property.
Within days of the bond purchase, the company formerly contracted to buy Edenmoor earlier in the year, Eden Ventures of Raleigh, withdrew its bid when the FLC declined a request to do away with more than $6 million in back bond assessments.
Saybrook’s final nearly $8.7 million purchase price included the cost of the original 222 properties up for sale in a delinquent tax sale last year, plus nearly $429,000 for 77 additional properties the former owners failed to claim since then.
Forfeited Land Commission Chairman John Lane said the closing came after a “very long two years” in which the FLC learned some lessons in dealing with projects as complex as Edenmoor. Lane said he’s glad it’s over, but most of all he’s happy Edenmoor residents will finally be taken care of.
“I’m very happy for the residents of Edenmoor that this thing is finally under way and they’ll be able to go forward with, hopefully, a great new developer,” Lane said.  
Edenmoor is located off U.S. 521 on Jim Wilson Road near the state line. It runs between Jim Wilson Road and S.C. 75. It is one of the largest planned development districts ever approved in the county, originally planned to include 2,000 homes. There are now 68 homes in the neighborhood.