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Las Torres del Coco Owners

This blog is intended for the use of Las Torres del Coco studios owners who bought their units from Tropical Felgate, but all other Las Torres owners are welcome to participate.
Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project

Dear Coco Tores owners,

I am sure that this email will surprise a lot of you and some of you are aware of the current status with the Coco Tores project.

 

Let me first introduce myself, my name is Sorin Costache and together with Anatoli Barsukov we represent the buyers of 24 units in Coco Tores project out of which 3 of them we own.

Many of you have heard and seen the current status of this project, but let me give you a quick update:

 

1. All the units are finish and they are ready to be furnished whenever each owner decides to.

 

2. There is a tank of 1000 liters that provides water for the project which is for now temporally, I am sure that you all are aware of the water meters now required by the "coco water project" to be installed at each unit in order to eliminate the blue tank that is now sitting at the side of one of the buildings.

 

3. Some of the common areas such as (the back parking lot, the wall between Mapache's office and the project...) are still not finished. There is little, or better no effort put in by Grupo Mapache to finish these items that have been pending for some time.

 

4. The project is now clear of loans and is at no risk of being foreclosed like other Mapache projects that are now in the process of negotiations with various lenders in order for some of these projects to be saved. Luckily Coco Torres does not face this problem, but we encounter the following:

 

5. The electrical issue is still not resolved due to a change in requirements by the electrical company "Coope Guanacaste". They now require two transformers of higher capacity in order to service the whole project with enough electricity.

 

We keep on asking ourselves when can we enjoy our investments and when we can rent these units so we can all see some returns from this investment financed by hard eared money or equities that have now depleted due to the economical downturn.

The answer is: not unless these units are completely finished with electrical installation,  and finishing of the rest of the pending work.

So, "who is going to do all this work"? - of course is Grupo Mapache's responsibility, that is what they promised when we bought these units and that is what a developer must do, finish the work. Sounds nice and simple if Grupo Mapache would have the funds to finish this project, but I think by now is no mystery that they are in enormous financial distress, and unable to deliver their contractual obligations.

 

In the last visit that my partner Anatoli made in the beginning of February; during many meetings with Carlos Arroyo the owner of Grupo Mapache EIG he learned the whole story about these transformers and how we can get this done. Of course we are open to many ideas but this is what we proposed.

1. We thought it was important to understand the whole job and evaluate the cost.

 

2. We understand that at this point these is only one company qualified and competent that can and will guarantee the job done as per "Coope Guanacaste" requirements. That is to build the concrete basis, wire the whole project, install electrical meters and transformers.

 

3. Begin to inform the buyers of the situation and start raising money to complete the project.

 

Here is a list of funds necessary:

 

$40.000.00 USD                 to install transformers

$12.000.00 USD                 To build the concrete boxes for the transformers, to finish all the parking areas,  $  5.425.00 USD                               

Landscaping for the whole property. (second quote pending)                                   

 

$57.425.00                           TOTAL

 

The owner from unit number 24 did not pay for his final balance, so there is $3950.00 to collect plus the additional cost of the work necessary.

 

The lawyer has in the "TORES del COCO" trust account the sum of $5500.00

 

$57425.00 -

     5500.00

     3950.00

$47975.00 this divided by 48 units is $1000.00 per unit

 

 We plan on being there in the end or mid March to start the work and be there until finish.

We will provide full accountancy and receipts to all owners of the project and maintain everything transparent and for everyone review.

You will need to deposit these funds in "TORES del COCO" trust account opened by

”Bufete José Manuel Arias González & Asociados S.A."

                                                                                             

Please make your recommendations as quick as possible so we can have a solid plan by the end of this month and then begin collecting the funds for the necessary work.

We must also plan ahead and get proposals from couple of Management Companies, we will do that during our trip.

 

 

UNDERSTAND THAT UNLESS WE HAVE everyone's cooperation WILL BE VERY HARD TO GET THIS DONE, SO PLEASE RESPOND IN A TIMELY MANNER.

 

Thank you,

Sorin Costache

Published Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:58 AM by Serguei Galkine

Comments

# re: Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project @ Wednesday, March 03, 2010 1:29 PM

Hi guys,

Just wondering how much more we would have to pay for those studios?

We were promised that everything would be done by Mapache when we were asked to pay the balance payment in advance. Not only we'd helped Mapache to get out of the crisis with the loan they took on Las Torres, but now we have to finance the completion of the project on the top of the contractual price?

Another question - the expenses quoted are for finishing the parking and electricity connection. What about the water connection?

Are we going to pay for that out of our pocket too?

John

# re: Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project @ Thursday, March 04, 2010 8:28 AM

Dear Coco Tores owners,

thank you for your quick and positive response received in the last couple of days. I want to bring to everyone attention some of the questions and suggestions that have come up and i will try to respond to them with best of my knowledge.

After many attempts to contact Mr. Rick Hockenberry (the owner of unit #24) i finally succeeded yesterday and also spoke with his accountant Chris. Both Mr. Rick and Chris are in agreement with what we are trying to get accomplish and Mr. Chris assured me that he will make it possible for the balance of Mr. Rick's unit to be paid and the additional $1000 in order to complete all the necessary work. After the balance will be paid Mr. Rick will receive a certificate of ownership just like the rest of us did.

Mr Serguei the owner of one unit (nr?), originally owner of 6, writes the following:

We were all promised by Mapache, that the complex will be completely finished by the middle of October 2009, when they asked for a balance payment in August 2009 and that they needed that money to pay off the creditors and to finish the project by the middle of October 2009.

Since then the money has been spent on paying off the creditors and supposedly on the project.

When we asked Mapache in November 2009 what was going on and why the project was still not finished, the answer was that Coopeguanacaste demanded to install 4 transformers instead of 1 as originally planned. Then it turned out that all wiring from the units to the meters needed a re-wiring as obviously Mapache and/or their sub-contractors did not do it properly in the first place.

I personally never liked the "hush-hush" maner of doing business and I think that all major issues should be discussed among the owners before making any decission.

By defenition, the holding company for Las Torres shares is still in control of Mapache or their representatives.

Mr. Serguei, i could not agree with you more about how misleading Mapache has been throughout this whole time, they have made promise after promise and never they were able to fulfill their obligations, i am only not disappointed but infuriated with the amount of disregard that they have towards our investments, time and trust. But let's remove our personal feelings for a moment and let's keep focusing on what needs to be done.

"i personally never liked the hush-hush" way of doing things either and for the first time owners of Torres del Coco are getting accurate and trustworthy information, and indeed we need to talk and make decisions - i think that the major decision that everyone needs to take now is whether we want to finish this project or not.  If yes, here is what i propose we do:

1. We must send the additional $1000 per unit is a secure trust account that already has been establish by the lawyer that we all know by now, Manuel Arias and whose information i have send on my previous email. Those funds will not be released to anyone unless we (owners)all are in agreement on what and how it will be spent.

2. Receipts and contract information will be available to all owners for review and personal records.

3. Get the most recent and accurate request from COOPEGUANACASTE  along with a proposal and full description of what needs to be done. I believe that Mapache already has that but additional due diligence must be done.

4. Hire the adequate company for the concrete bases where the transformers will be installed and supervise the work of the concrete job and the transformers installation.

5. If outside rewiring needs to be done we must have a full understanding of what is involved and beware of potential pathways and  landscape damage.

6. We must obtain guarantee from the installers for the maximum time possible.

6. We must make sure that the job is done neat and in a timely manner.

7. Additional parking area should not be overlooked as it needs major repairs as well.

8. We also must get different proposals from management companies, review the proposals and hire a competent team to manage the property. As of now we have no security guard on duty.

Mr. Serguei also suggested that we should have a Homeowners Associations with elected officials to act on our behalf.

I think at this point WE should act on our own behalves and there is no need to pay any extra association fees or unwanted delays that  this process may cause (who the officials are?, at what expense they will represent us?, voting, etc...) We are on the last hundred meters of this long marathon and i believe that we can do this on our own.

When we have a manageable asset that we can get revenues from than we should definitely have someone taking care of the daily and monthly necessary services and association fees will then be collected.

All the 48 shares that the initial company used for building these units, we indorsed and signed over to the lawyer Manuel Arias and then new shares were issued with everyone name on them as prove of ownership. Not one member form Mapache's company owns one unit and i don't see how they would have any control over this project.  I will talk with Manuel Arias and get clarification whether we are at any kind of risk at the present time.  

As of today i have the commitment of 28 owners and 19000.00 will be wire in the account from my group in the next 3-5 business days along with my 5000.00 for the 5 units I have. Others have emailed me in support and also said that they will send their money.  I look forward to everyone cooperation and of course let's all join forces so we can finally enjoy our investments.  

I will copy this email to the blog provided by Mr Serguei where you can post your comments but i don't mind responding to individual emails as well

http://www.1costarica.net/blogs/las_torres_owners/archive/2010/03/03/current-status-of-the-las-torres-del-coco-project.aspx#comments

Best regards

Sorin Costache and Anatoli Barsukov

sorin costache

# re: Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project @ Saturday, March 06, 2010 4:42 PM

John I couldn't agree with you more. It seemed that all I needed to pay was my $3000 and plus balance but I'm being told that there is now that additional payment of $1000 for the electrical issue which is still not resolved " due to a change in requirements by the electrical company "Coope Guanacaste". They now require two transformers of higher capacity in order to service the whole project with enough electricity ". I have stopped sending payments for the completion of the unit for this sole purpose. I have forwarded all of this current events to my lawyer and am awaiting his response. Rick

Rick Hockenberry

# re: Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project @ Sunday, March 07, 2010 12:36 PM

Originally we had units 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, all but unit 7 have been re-sold to the current owners.

We have our units furnished and ready to be rented for the last two years and can not do that.

As for the holding corporation status - as far as I know, Jose Manuel Arias is a trustee for the holding company, but the board still consists of Mapache's people and technically they can make any decision they want. At the moment the water is supplied from Mapache's water connection for their office. They could have also supply the electricity the same way until the meters installed.

My opinion is that due to the developer (Mapache) not being able to provide basic utilities and security, we should get from them a promissory note that they at least will keep supplying water (and electricity) and provide a security guard until the permanent water and electricity connections are in place. We are supposed to cough up $50K for the works supposed to be done by them in the first place and within contractual price, so the least they can do in this situation is to supply utilities and security until the works are finished. I did try to push this proposal when Mapache asked for the balance payment in advance, but no one listened to that then. If Mapache don't want anything to do about the project, it's only logical that the board of the holding corporation should be replaced by the owners reps.

Please give me your comments on this proposal.

S. Galkine

Serguei Galkine

# re: Current status of the Las Torres del Coco project @ Saturday, March 13, 2010 12:47 AM

Dear Torres del Coco Owners

after receiving any email from all of you and expressing your concerns about this project i have some positive news that i would like to share with all of you:

Concerns:

1. The shares are issued by a corporation "Sweet Towers of Coco SA" which Mapache family members have the following positions - PRESIDENT: Margarita Aroyo Quiros, SECRETARY: Andrea Aroyo Quiros

Answer:

All the shares of this corporation were endorsed to Jose Manuel Arias (the lawyer the initially opened this corporation) and he became the trustee of those shares. Than new shares were reissued with the name of each buyer and the number of the unit that each owner purchased written on the share certificate. This corporation had and still has only 48 shares.  he is still the legal owner of some shares that have not been picked up yet but the balances were paid. Remember the everyone needs to sign the corporation asset book so they can become legal owner of their share. (or a power of attorney to somebody that could physically be there)

2. How can we remove Mapache as the executives of this corporation?

Answer:

This process requires some time and is kind of lengthy but it could be done. Is not necessary in order for us to finish the project and we are at no risk whatsoever at this point. here are the following actions that we need to taken order to get this done:

a. publish a convocation message in the business section of "LA GAZETA" as well as in a regular local news paper such as "LA NACION" with the date and place of the meeting ,the agenda so all owners can attend.

b. give at least 2 weeks' notice to all the owners so they can fly to Costa Rica and attend the meeting. In case that they cannot be present they could sign a proxi letter and someone can represent their interest.

c. a bilingual lawyer that could communicate with all the owners present at the meeting.

d. three members that need to be voted for the following positions: PRESIDENT, SECRETARY and TRASURER. Those members do not have to be living in Costa Rica full time or be Costa Rican citizens or residents, but they have to act in the interest of all share holders and provide information of any change in ownership of any share and other necessary responsibilities.

e. conduct the meeting and elect the new officers.

As mentioned above this can be done now or after the project if finished since we are at no risk at all.

3. Does this properly or corporation have any leans or any debts?

Answer:

This property and corporation is completely free of leans, debts or any obligations towards any party. See the attached study of the property from the nation registry in Costa Rica.

4. Have all the taxes been paid or any other penalties that we don't know of?

Answer:

Al the property taxes have been paid and are up to date. For 2008 and 2009 (963.238.95 colones) have been paid and the taxes for 2010 (850.245.25 colones) will be due in the next couple of months. We are hoping to have few dollar left after everything is done so we can apply the remaining money towards this payment. See the attached receipts.

5. Where is the letter from COPOGUANACHASTE requesting that a second transformer needs to be installed and why only one company can perform this work?

Answer:

Attached is the letter from COPOGUANACHASTE and just like here in the States the electrical company can only contract qualified contractors that are certified and insured according to the state requirements.

6. What if Mapache can go and get another loan without our consent?

Answer:

Mapache could  act ONLY in agreement of the share holders. In other words there cannot take another loan against this property, rent or live in any of this units, manage the property without our consent or any other decisions that are to be made in this property.

7. Sorin, are you able to send to us the legal documents that show the current state of our ownership?

Answer:

The legal documents are the following:

a. The current state of ownership is each individual share.

b. 48 shares of the corporation - as mentioned above most of the shares have been already distributed.

c. The books of the corporation (assets, meetings, registry) which i don't have any copies of it, but i will make copies when i get there in first week of April.

Now let's get to the plan of actions also sugestesd by Mr. Serguei in his previous email.

1. we need to form a Home Owners Association which in its turn will protect our interests and manage major issues of finishing the community and managing it in the future.

here is the link published by Mr. Serguei:

http://www.1costarica.net/blogs/las_torres_owners/archive/2010/03/11/proposed-las-torres-del-coco-studios-hom-e-owners-association-by-tropical-felgate.aspx

2. We also published a proposed Rules and Regulations of the Condominium.

here is the link published by Mr. Serguei:

http://www.1costarica.net/blogs/las_torres_owners/archive/2010/03/11/proposed-las-torres-del-coco-condominium-rules-and-regulations-by-tropical-felgate-costa-rica.aspx

3. Proposals from different Management companies.

The one we've done business with and have a great reputation is "Sunset propoerties", also Mr. Serguei will submit his proposal for this purpose.

Mr. Serguei comments:

”I know Sunset Properties very well and would not mind if they were the managers, though I would be strongly against other candidates you mentioned. They might be good on sales, but screwed up on property management already."

4. We must also fund the trust with the $1000.00 per unit so funds are available for hiring contractors to finish the remaining work.

The rest of the attachments i will email tomorrow.

Please send your comments ASAP

Best regards,

Sorin Costache

sorin costache

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