Hard times have hit a couple of big South Florida condo projects with two major condominium developers having filed for bankruptcy last week.. Strada 315 LLC, the developer of Fort Lauderdale's Strada 315, filed Chapter 11 after selling 48 of its 117 units. The 21-floor condo tower was selling off condos for between $230,000 and $600,000.Regions Financial Corp., the largest bank based in Alabama, originally lent $34.5 million to the project. About $16 million was paid off as the condos were sold but Regions would not extend the loan. The developers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, saying they owe at least $50 million in debts to this bank and other lending partners. The company will continue operating as U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami court reorganizes its debts.

Beach House Property LLC, which is connected to Beach House Designed by Richard Meier, at 9449 Collins Ave in Surfside filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. The 101-unit condo was set to be built on the property of the Beach House Hotel and would offer 101 condos at prices starting at around $1.5 million. The company owes its 20 largest unsecured creditors $4.6 million.

What is the future of these two projects? At Strada there are sales contracts on 51 of the remaining 69 units, but it is expected that some of these will not close due to the current grim conditions facing South Florida condominiums. The situation for the Beach House is even murkier. Apparently the project is way behind schedule and has according to a comprehensive article by Kevin Tomlinson of the South Beach Condo blog, been through several developers already. It's a shame since the project, shown at left, is the first Meier project in the area and attracted a lot of attention when it was first announced.