Complaint Review: SAFARI DRIVE SCOTTSDALE

CAVEAT EMPTOR! BUYER BEWARE!

Don't believe the slick Starwood Capital (aka ST Residential) brochures and digital marketing campaigns. SAFARI DRIVE SCOTTSDALE is a first class rip off and I will vehemently stand by and support this statement as long as I live. This is just the first of several reports I will be filing on this company.

This is a development that was bought out of FDIC hock (for pennies on the dollar) by Barry Sternlicht and his Starwood Capital Group, only to be repackaged through a Starwood subsidiary named ST Residential. The Safari Drive "luxury condo" sales campaign was originally launched over 4 years ago by a local developer who defaulted on an $80 million Corus Bank construction loan which in turn was picked up by the FDIC when it took over the insolvent Corus Bank's $4.3 Billion construction loan portfolio. Starwood Capital was the lead private equity investor in a very creative financing scheme that gives the FDIC a supposed majority equity control in said former Corus Bank multi billion dollar portfolio. Safari Drive is now completely under Starwood Capital's control. Obviously, there is no regulatory oversight (by the FDIC) on the deal, thus Starwood Capital is liquidating all of the portfolio's overpriced condo inventory at half of the original list prices. Safari Drive is a perfect example of this sales dumping tactic.

Safari Drive's new marketing and asset management group is run by Geoffrey Edmunds & Associates and the Safari Drive HOA is run by Associated Asset Management. Both GEA and AAM are in collusion and fronting for ST Residential which is buffering for Starwood Capital. GEA is very proud in touting its past experience in marketing the local Esplanade and Waterfront projects, yet it has done nothing to bring Safari Drive up to those other projects' standards. Safari Drive is not a "luxury" or "landmark" property. It is an over-priced, badly designed and shoddily built, rusty relic. My unit is completely dysfunctional and not worth the price paid for it. Everything has broken down from the A/C to the fancy Bosch kitchen appliances. The plumbing is erratic with no water pressure or enough hot water when in the showers. The walls are paper thin and I can hear everything all my neighbors' conversations in their units. Both ST Residential and GEA will assume no responsibility for the previous developer's builder. They won't tell you that in their sales pitch! How 200 units could have been built for $80 million (or approximately $400 psf) is beyond me. How I could have paid almost $300 psf is even more pathetic. I would never have done so if the Safari Drive sales team would have been more honest. I feel sorry for the original condo purchasers who paid $600 psf. I met one poor older couple (who had lost their entire life savings) as they were moving out of their top floor unit and would love to have them tell their story.

This is no luxury development but a quick dumping scheme by Starwood Capital and Geoffrey Edmunds. As i mentioned, the Esplanade, Waterfront and even the Optima development across the street from Safari Drive are more luxurious and really delivering on the amenities. These developments are a large step above Safari Drive and have performed much better in the resale market. The Esplanade is perfectly located at the Biltmore shopping center and within walking distance of some (almost) world-class dining and shopping. Such is the case with the Waterfront development at Fashion Square. Optima has created its own special community with a self sufficient and self-sustaining amenity program. It actually has 3 restaurants and a phenomenal gym and spa. All 3 of those developments have 24x7 concierge and security, along with real maintenance crews that actually keep the properties running properly. There is nothing of the sort at Safari Drive... no concierge service, no security (with the property easily accessible by thieves and predators), no food/dining service (not even a coffee stand), no spa or gym, insufficient guest parking, pathetically small pool areas... the list goes on. Amazingly enough, the HOA manager, Associated Asset Management, run by Laura Ziff, is charging me $600 per month for HOA fees. I can't figure out where the $700,000 HOA budget is going to. I haven't even had my windows cleaned in the past year! Obviously Ms. Ziff's company is getting paid decently.

Take it from a ripped off consumer... DO NOT BUY A SAFARI DRIVE condo unit. It will be the worst investment you could make. You will also not be happy here, unless you like looking out over gray water canals (that stink), dialysis center parking lots, and big dirt ditches (that are supposedly "Phase 2") of the pathetically planned and executed master plan that is "SAFARI DRIVE SCOTTSDALE". How the City of Scottsdale City Council could have been bamboozled into approving the Safari Drive denser and taller "Phase 2" is beyond me.. but wait... what am I talking about..? Wasn't I bamboozled first?