Key investor says Jubilee’s still on

Key investor says Jubilee’s still on

By Deborah Nelson
August 12, 2007

In an exclusive interview, California-based financier Barney Ng updates the status of Pace’s floundering Jubilee project, and talks about the development’s future. Ng was in Santa Rosa this week to meet with contractors who are still owed payments for Jubilee construction work.

Pace’s Jubilee development is still on the table, says project financier Barney Ng.

Ng represents 2718 Santa Rosa, LLC; an investor group backing the planned 10,000 home Master Planned community. Project developer The Eagle Group, last week, confirmed that construction has stopped, and that the project is in debt.

Ng affirmed that Jubilee is over budget, but declined to release specifics until all parties involved could come to the table. He says final numbers, and new construction timetables, will be worked out in coming weeks.

The California-based financier traveled to Pace last week to meet with contractors who are still owed payments for project work performed. Ng’s company financed Jubilee, but has not been involved in day to day project management.

“It’s still our responsibility to address it and tell everybody what the situation is, and what the plan is to get this thing on the road again,” he remarks.

The company is working to assess each vendor’s financial situation and immediate needs to prioritize a payment schedule, according to Ng. He says the company has worked out payment plans with several contractors to ensure none are in jeopardy of going under.

“I don’t want to be associated with [a contractor] failing,” he notes.

It appears that Ng will take a more involved role in the project in coming months. He’s working on getting the funding to restart Jubilee, he affirms, but construction will not resume until investors are certain funds are available to pay contractors.

“Our long term goal is to resolve this and get Jubilee built,” Ng remarks. “It’s not going to be an overnight solution, it’s going to take some time.

That solution, he says, could differ from the project’s original development plan.

Jubilee’s initial concept included a private, 7,400 yard, 18-hole golf course, fitness centers, commercial areas, neighborhood parks, gardens, interconnected trails and pools.

The Master Plan also featured a 25-acre gopher tortoise habitat. Project officials, last year, announced that some 40 percent of the development’s total land would be set aside for wetlands or conservation areas.

And to help accommodate increased traffic, Eagle Group agreed to build a new north-south roadway between Luther Fowler and Willard Norris Roads.

Revamped design and building schedules are still being worked out, but Ng says he’s hoping, inside of sixty days, to have a better idea of where Jubilee’s going.

The company still wants to build a comprehensive, master planned development, he affirms.

“Our goal is to reevaluate the plan and really try to make it a more realistic one,” says Ng. “That’s not to say the project is going to be any less of a quality.”

Because Jubilee is a ‘development of regional impact,’ Florida’s Department of Community Affairs must approve the 2,700 acre project’s final design. As of August 6, DCA had not yet received Jubilee’s ADA application paperwork for that review.

Ng says ADA submittal is a priority, and project officials are gathering information for the application.

Whatever the final plan, the company plans to work with the community to develop it, he notes.

“We want to have a development the community is proud of,” he remarks. The community should feel this is something they are a part of.”

Lots for Jubilee’s Phase I, which includes 588 homes, a golf course, Discovery Center and clubhouse, were originally scheduled to be available this Fall.

Ng says he’s still planning for Phase I to be finished by next year, although it may not be constructed as originally envisioned. The golf course, designed by professional golfer Jerry Pate, is still part of the plan, he confirmed.

“Pate has made a spectacular golf course,” Ng remarks. “It’s truly something Santa Rosa should be very proud of. What he designed, it is now my responsibility to execute.”

He says he still hopes to see the course open for play by this time next year.

Ng, whose prior investments include the Queen Mary liner and a multi-million dollar Reno casino, characterizes Santa Rosa as a viable investment prospect.

“I do not invest in anything that I think will fail,” he remarks. “I am very bullish on this project. I am very bullish on Santa Rosa County.”