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Hard economic times cloud Hamlet's future
By TIM GRANT
© St. Petersburg Times, CARROLLWOOD -- Six months after hearing a plan to convert the Hamlet into an exclusive gated community, homeowners in this neighborhood are feeling uncertain about the mortgage company whose executives would have bankrolled the project. GreatStone Mortgage Co. executives and their relatives own about 14 homes in the Hamlet. The company's CEO, Corey Brower, told the residents in February that they planned to buy at least 30 of the Hamlet's 72 homes and eventually turn the neighborhood into a company retreat. But now it seems GreatStone has fallen on hard times, leading corporate executives to scale back their ambitious plans for this shaded community off Smitter Road. At least two GreatStone officials and their associates are selling their homes. Gone are the days when the business group sought ownership of almost half the neighborhood. "I don't even know what possessed them to come into this neighborhood," said Theresa Sierra, who has lived in the Hamlet for three years. "I personally think it's fine the way it is." With GreatStone facing lawsuits and financial troubles, neighbors have begun to worry about the future of a community so tethered to that of the national mortgage company with its headquarters at N Dale Mabry Highway and Waters Avenue. GreatStone corporate officer Brian Stulman said Friday that the company announced another wave of layoffs last week, following the 147 who were let go in mid August. Stulman called it "downsizing" and would not say how many workers were sent home or how many remain. At its peak, GreatStone employed about 800 people nationwide in a business that refinanced homes. Andrew Lluberes, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., also confirmed Friday that GreatStone is currently being evaluated by the Mortgage Review Board for what HUD called "predatory lending" practices. GreatStone has been placed on probation by HUD and recently lost its ability to issue government-backed mortgage securities. In the past two weeks, GreatStone and top officers have been sued by Republic Bank of St. Petersburg for allegedly defaulting on a $6-million payment they owe on a $15-million loan the company used to write mortgages. Shortly before the lawsuit, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies entered the corporate office as part of an attempt by Bears Stearns Mortgage Capital Corp. to seize as many as 171 mortgage files. Bears Stearns Mortgage Capital Corp. sued for the files after a business deal was derailed by GreatStone's problems with federal regulators. Stulman said the company is not considering any bankruptcy filings. He said layoffs are intended to help reorganize the company and will mark the beginning of GreatStone's turnaround. "Our expenses are just way too high," Stulman said. "We are downsizing and going back to our roots. We are going to a sales staff and a closing staff -- no middle managers. We need to be lean and mean, which is how we were when we started." Greenacre Property manager Dan Ruskiwicz, who manages the Hamlet, said GreatStone family members and officers own 14 homes in the Hamlet, although some neighbors believe the number is higher. When Brower explained his dream to turn the Hamlet into GreatStone's private paradise, he told residents the company wanted to own at least 30 homes there. At this point, the main thing that worries people in the Hamlet is the unfinished 12,000-square-foot home that GreatStone CEO Brower and his wife, Sandi, are building at 14805 Grimsby Place. "I'm just concerned we'll be left with this white elephant that's 12,000 square feet when the largest home here now is 4,000 square feet," said homeowner Rebecca Wolf. "I just hope they don't walk away from that home unfinished." Although Brower did not return a message left at his office, Stulman said Brower does intend to finish the home. Stulman also confirmed that two homes owned by people connected to GreatStone are up for sale. "Obviously, as money gets tighter, we'll sell some homes to improve cash flow," Stulman said. "But we're not going to flood the market." Joanne Baizan fears property values in the Hamlet could take a dive if the Browers don't finish the larger house and decide to sell the other homes they've renovated. "These (GreatStone) homes are much bigger than the others, and I imagine they'll have to sell for much less than they were built for," Baizan said. "I've been concerned from the very beginning that something like this might happen. "I liked our neighborhood the way it was. Everybody kept to themselves. Now people who don't even live here know about all this, and when they find out I live here, they ask me about it and it makes me a bit nervous. With such a huge investment stake in the community, Wolf said Brower offered to give the homeowners association a bond to cover maintenance of the GreatStone homes to alleviate their concerns that his company might go out of business. However, Wolf said the board of directors turned down Brower's offer. Neighbors say that in recent weeks, GreatStone residents have maintained a low profile in the Hamlet. "I can't say anything negative about them," said Steve McInturff, a Hamlet resident. "They keep to themselves and they're quiet. It's not like a motorcycle gang coming through here." But there was a time when the corporate group was very conspicuous here. When the group first moved in about five years ago and commenced their buying spree, they traveled the community in a caravan of black luxury cars. Last summer the Browers made headlines when they illegally chopped down a grandfather oak tree on the property where they are building the Hamlet's largest home. The oak tree would have prevented them from enlarging their home, and when they submitted plans for a building permit, the Browers did not indicate the tree was ever there. Tampa lawyer Donald Conwell, whose home was shaded by the towering oak, reported the tree removal to the county after he returned from a trip to Europe and discovered it missing. Eventually, the county fined the Browers $1,350, but still granted the building permit. Conwell later filed another complaint against the Browers saying that the second-story addition the Browers were building over a covered patio would increase the home size beyond what is legally allowed on that lot. The Browers offered to buy Conwell's home. In exchange, he agreed to stop talking about them publicly.
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