Grand Reserve at Windsor Parke Condos (Jacksonville: best neighborhoods, sales, real estate)

[jmm25275]

Has anybody heard of this place? Located just off Hodges and JTB; looks nice but I've heard many stories regarding all kinds of extra money being paid by owners and possible city-imposed fines or even a closing. What exactly is the situation? What about the lawsuit against Lecraw? It seems kinda messy. Anybody aware of any recent developments? Property values are cheap and I'm curious if it'd be worth it to invest there.

[riveree]

I don't know the details about this one, but it is one of those condo-conversions? You know, when they take an apartment and convert it into a condo instead of building new? This has been done all over Florida and there seems to be some grumbling about them in the afterwake of the real estate slowdown (structure problems arising). Could it be that kind of thing?

[David in JAX]

Stay away from any condo conversion.
1. Most of the conversions were purchased and shodily "refurbished" with the hope of quick sales from "investors".
2. There is a new Florida law that allows condos to be turned back into apartments if the sales are not good. So, you could own a one unit stake in an apartment complex. If you lived in the unit, you would have to qualify and pay rent. If the unit is rented, you would have all of the management fees and expenses taken out of your unit's rent.

[isjeepin]

I lived there for a year. I moved because I left the person who owned the condo. It converted a long time ago to condo. I lived there in 2005. We had a 3 bedroom 1700 sq ft with a large lanai that faced the woods. It was very cool. Lots of room and good floor plan. Like any condo complex, the assessments went up while I was there. I loved the place. Great neighborhood. Its on a golf course. Rental apts around there are nice too. Can walk to Publix (grocery store) and there is a cute Italian restaurant in same plaza with cleaners nail shop etc. Grounds are kept well but they always had problems with the gate, which was pretty worthless. Don't expect total security. I am familiar with all of Jax and this is one of the best neighborhoods in the city.

[Gary Randall]

Grand Reserve is a definate NO!!! Hoa fee's for all of 2007 have been on average $650.00 a month! Major structural problems going on and know sign of it even coming close to an end. An estimated $7,000,000.00 in construction fees alone, not to include, salaries, maintanence, and reserves!!! With 10 being the best rating and 1 being the worse, I would rate Grand Reserve a 0. Trust me, my wife purchased one before we got married and now we're stuck with this horrible place. The only problem is most people don't mind throwing another under the bus for their own selfish ambitions, so you'll probably find a lot of them for sell.

[renter311]

I currently live in the Grand Reserve and hate it. The women in the office are not friendly and flat out rude. They're always too busy to help me and when I finally get help are snobby and very rude. The condos are not well taken care of and what they call "putting greens" are disgusting and not taken care of. We have three vehicles and were told only get two parking spots. They said we can receive a blue paper to put in our windshield for the third vehicle and park it up by the office. Not only do we have the hassle of walking up there everyday, but must receive a new paper every month. The parking here is an absolute MESS, there are barely any spots and because of this people park in resident spots. The pool is very nice and they even have a hot tub however the jets don't always work. The residents are very rude as well and we were even told by a woman in the office, "If you even breathe too loud, they will call and complain about you." Like someone else said on here the gate doesn't always work either. I would for sure say this place isn't worth your time or money!!!!

[CollegeGuy9]

Worst condo complex in Jacksonville from my research.

Consider Merill Pines which is brand new and has low assessments.

[Graziellaa]

Any new reviews on this complex? I really want to like this..

[grayrunner]

I have some info over the past year on the GR.

I bought a 2 br there on paper from the owner (the only way I would buy a condo unless its a cash auction steal but that's just my attitude) and after all the mess I negotiated with the owner and got most of my money back, which was only the 10 % down to begin with, so I fared better than most..

Last year though I and a couple others sued the construction companies that did the conversion and we did get a settlement from them and they seemed quite willing to do it to get a liability release. I had the feeling from their counsels that when they settled with the majority of the owners and got a release of liability they felt they had dodged a big bullet. I wasn't involved in that one, but whoever accepted that settlement on behalf of the owners left a lot of money on the table in my opinion.

And I don't think it's over. I saw in my unit rippling sheetrock on
interior walls. I don't know what's it like now, but to me that means the building has water damage to its support columns beyond the breezeways. And the only way to find out was to open up some interior walls, something that was I think intentionally NOT done during the inspections because nobody really wanted to find out!

I don't know what's going on there now; I feel sorry for people who lost their life savings, credit ratings and maybe their homes as well, but looking
at the money already spent and money to be spent, if you add it all up I don't know if it makes any sense staying with it. All I can suggest as I did at that big public meeting where we were all informed of the laundry list of problems is to plan your way out carefully.

A friend of mine bought an unfinished 3/2 single family at auction on the west side of St Augustine after a manufacturer went under. Just needed
paint, carpeting and appliances and they got it for 30k.

[lauraharp3r]

Anyone have any new information on this place? I'm looking to rent not buy. Please helps Thanks.