Spanish View Towers buyers sue over unreturned deposits

They entered contracts stating that the first units at Spanish View Towers would be available for occupancy in July.

Construction on the $800 million project was halted more than a year ago and the developer won’t return their deposit, according to a potential class action lawsuit filed by Marquis & Aurbach.

“This project is more than 18 months behind schedule,” Marquis & Aurbach managing partner Terry Coffing said in a statement. “To date, there is no construction above the first floor of the first tower and the sad truth is, even that floor is not substantially completed.”

The lawsuit, filed May 23 in District Court, seeks recovery of the deposits plus $500 in damages for each customer.

William Heaton, attorney for Spanish View developer Rod Yanke, said he contacted the law office and told them that funding for the project was imminent.

“The question is, ‘Why are you filing? What are you hoping accomplish?’ We have worked with Ms. Chandler to try to resolve the issue of her mother’s estate,” Heaton said.

“It’s the same story,” Yanke said. “The attorney has been told when they’re getting paid and he went and filed anyway.”

Spanish View Towers was billed as a 444-unit development near Buffalo Drive and the Beltway with views of Red Rock Canyon and the Strip. Television commercials portrayed the project as upscale living with a fitness club, day spa salon and tropical pool. Prices ranged from $800,000 to $6 million.

Coffing said the project had impressive presales, but now his clients have heard every excuse for delaying the return of their deposit. The most disturbing news, he said, was learning that the company that financed the purchase of the land has set a foreclosure sale on the property for Monday.

“Construction ceased long ago and we have learned there is no financing in place to move the project along,” he said.

Yanke, who bought the 15-acre parcel for roughly $8.5 million, said he expects to close on the loan this week.

American International had entered into discussions with OneCap with the intention of purchasing the deed of trust on the property, according to an April 4 letter from Kenneth Salzman of Florida-based Holton Capital. Upon purchasing the deed, American International would close on the balance of the $289 million construction loan.

Yanke is a defendant in at least nine lawsuits and faces more than $30 million in mechanics liens resulting from the developers failure to pay construction costs, according to Marquis & Aurbach.

The developer’s current actions, together with his history, may establish a pattern that constitutes racketeering, the lawsuit contends.

Also, the lawsuit alleges that the project’s customers were unaware that the Prudential Americana sales agent on the project, Jeannine Cutter, was living with the developer and may have had a financial interest in the project but failed to disclose the conflict with buyers.