The developer facing foreclosure on three Reunion subdivision homes in South Hall said he plans to settle his multi-million dollar loan dispute before his property is auctioned off.
"Homeowners may rest assured that this dispute has no impact whatsoever on their property," said John Wieland of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods in a written statement to the Times on Friday. "It’s business as usual for Wieland."
On Thursday, Compass Bank filed foreclosure notices in The Times against the 39-year-old company. The bank is seeking repayment on a $23 million loan it gave Wieland to build Reunion subdivision, a planned community that opened in 2001.
Wieland said he took out a loan with Guaranty Bank in Texas — which the FDIC later sold to Compass Bank — that would provide up to $25 million to help finance the Reunion development. He still owes about $10 million on the original loan and said he is working with Compass Bank to resolve the issue.
This month, the bank filed foreclosure notices on three parcels in the Reunion subdivision and another parcel in Forsyth County, according to legal advertisements in The Times.
Unless Wieland can reach a settlement with the bank, the property will be sold to the highest bidder March 2 on the courthouse steps.
Wieland’s company owns property in 56 neighborhoods throughout the Southeast, including homes in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. According to his statement, no other properties are facing foreclosure.
He said he "remains fully and firmly committed to all current and future development within Reunion Country Club."
Wieland’s situation is not unique after a recession that saw home sales plummet, but Gainesville real estate executive Frank Norton Jr. said the market is slowly but surely making a comeback.
"I’m not specifically informed on what Mr. Wieland is doing, but we are seeing that foreclosures are slowing down," Norton said. Smaller markets such as South Hall and Forsyth have seen less stress on sales recently, he said.
Over the last three years, the number of available homes in the Atlanta area decreased from 85,000 in 2006 to 30,000 at the end of 2009, he added.
In the spring of 2009, Wieland took to the road in hopes of selling 101 homes in 60 neighborhoods in Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee.
He planned to sleep in a model home in a different neighborhood every night until he reached his sales goal.
His first stop was at Reunion where he said he remained convinced that, despite the recession, the time was right to buy a house.
"This is our fourth big recession, and in the three previous it has always been housing that led the economy out," Wieland said at the time.