No Timeshare Worries For Levy

Developer Bill Levy put out a press release stating that construction on his controversial timeshare condo project on lower State Street will begin within 60 days, even though one of his key financers – Mountain Funding – has issued a notice of default charging that Levy and his partners are delinquent on a loan to the tune of $35 million.

The loan was issued last year to secure the property, which may be cleared to construct 62 Ritz-Carlton time-share units. Levy’s longtime partner Roy Millender stated he had hoped Mountain Funding would work out its differences with Levy privately, but pledged that the legal dispute “will in no way affect the construction financing or the progress and completion of the Ritz-Carlton Club in Santa Barbara.” Levy has caused City Hall a great deal of anxiety about the timeshare project’s financial viability many times already, repeatedly missing deadlines to begin construction and seeking extensions. According to Community Development Director Paul Casey, if construction does not begin by December 12, no more extensions are legally permissible and the timeshare project will officially be dead.