There's some big trouble going on at The Residences at The Little Nell project in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Times reports that two more buyers in the pricey ski resort project have filed lawsuits to try to get out of their contracts. That brings the total to eight buyers with contracts for 10 fractional ownership interests in the project trying to get out and get their money back. The Residences at The Little Nell is a fractional condo project managed by the Aspen Skiing Co.'s acclaimed Little Nell Hotel. The latest lawsuits come from PFW Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas, corporation, and Retreat Properties Inc., an Alaskan limited liability company. The PFW lawsuit said the corporation's president and sole shareholder, Ivan Jack Miller, entered a contract in December 2006 to purchase a one-eighth interest in a four-bedroom condo and deposited $450,000. But the PFW lawsuit claims that the developers didn't obtain a full certificate of occupancy in time to comply with the contract. The city of Aspen has issued a conditional certificate of occupancy for the luxury condos which lets people live in the units but doesn't allow use of areas like a roof-top pool and spa, courtyard spaces, patios or a restaurant and dining terrace because those amenities aren't complete yet. Does this make it uninhabitable? The PFW lawsuit alleges that it does. The lawsuit by Retreat Properties asks for a refund of $270,000, a deposit on a three-bedroom condo.

The Residences at Little Nell has eight fractional slices per each of its 26 condos for a total of 208 shares. They start at $1 million each for a three-bedroom unit and are nearly sold out. The four-bedroom shares ranged in price from $1.25 million to $3 million and are sold out. It is unknown if some of the motivation behind the lawsuits is the desire to get out of real estate deals made in a more sanguine market.

The project has been plagued with construction delays. It was set to open this summer but had to pull some fancy footwork just to jet that conditional certificate of occupancy on November 30. The first owners will be able to stay in the units in February and the restaurant and retail areas are scheduled to open later in the year.

If you like your fractional real estate on the exotic side here's a retreat for you. You can own a share of a game and wildlife reserve in Bostwana. The Limpopo-Lipadi Game & Wilderness Reserve is a nearly 80,000 acre reserve in eastern Botswana that is home to lions, leopards, elephants, hippos and other wildlife. Each share will give the owner to reserve a stay in one of the lodges being built on the land. No hunting is allowed and game rangers will be on site to serve as guides and instructors on wildlife topics. Once owners are certified by the rangers they can take their own self-guided trips and sleep out on tree platforms for an up close and personal safari experience if they prefer. Owners will have full access to the reserve for a certain number of days and the more shares they buy the more days they can have. Six lodges and camps are planned for the reserve as well as private lodges for those who buy five or more shares. Private lodges should be completed in late 2009. Each share costs $195,000.

[via IHT: Raising the Roof]

There are few places more idyllic to be on a summer holiday weekend than Nantucket, the beautiful island of the coast of Cape Cod. Now there is a new way to experience the Nantucket getaway without owning property or staying in a one of the island's inns. Harborview is a string of 10 intown, waterfront, urban-chic cottages with concierge service. There are one-, two- or three-bedroom units available. The units are available in one-eighth shares ( six weeks ownership) and prices range from $550,000 to $950,000. Potential buyers who want to own an entire unit will be paying $2.4 to $4.6 million depending on unit size.

While Florida real estate might be a bit dodgy currently, new projects are still launching. The Magnolia Private Residence Club is located in Seacrest Beach, Florida in the Florida panhandle. The residence club has 17 three-bedroom residences (1,775 square feet). Amenities include protected boardwalk access to the beaches, on-site concierge service, fitness center, club-owned bicycles, game room, business services, pre-arrival grocery stocking service and a rooftop deck with a heated pool, spa and grills.

The club is a residence club in which the property tax and insurance costs are shared among he owners. Owners can visit as often as they like booking both fair in advance and short notice vacations. There is no limit to the amount of use. If some owners visit their Club less often, other owners can visit more. You pay only the published housekeeping fees whenever you vacation at your Club on a space available or short notice basis. A three-bedroom residence at Magnolia starts at just $159,000 for a one-eighth share.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently covered one of the latest fractional residences. If you want a piece of Napa life you might want to check out the Orchard at Carneros Inn. The new offering is 17 cottages with 10 owners each. Each share costs $275,000 each.

The Carneros Inn is a 27-acre resort in Napa that has 86 guest cottages, million dollar homes, three restaurants, a spa, pools, fitness center, boutiques and even a deli. It is basically a small village unto itself. The cottages will have a rustic feel but with all the requisite amenities like stainless steel appliances and flatscreen TVs as well as access to all the Carneros amenities. Your $275,000 buys you three weeks a year plus additional time as available. The cottages will also be in a rental pool where they are expected to bring in $1,200 to $1,800. owners also have to pay dues of $8,100 plus a property tax that works out to around 1% of the purchase price each year. The first six cottages will be ready in August; the remaining ones will be finished in November.

Casa Casaurina, the former home of South Beach home of Gianni Versace which is currently a luxury club, may undergo another evolution, into time-share units. According to the Miami Herald, the current owner, Peter Loftiin, is thinking of building new suites at the mansion and selling them as fractional ownership spaces.  Loftin turned over the day-to-day running of the mansion to Destination Club Management and they are interested in building new units around the mansion's pool and courtyard. Of course there are the usual preservation outcries, even though Versace demolished a bit of South Beach history to create his home back in the 1980s. Casa execs say that there are no plans to bring fractional suites to the site but others have confirmed the rumor. Club members currently pay $35,000 per year and the suites are rented out at over $1,000 per night but the fractional suites would offer a chance to make even more money off the same location.