Convicted developer pursued local deals

Convicted developer pursued local deals
Jacksonville Business Journal - June 29, 2007
by Christian ConteS
taff Writer
Special
Real estate broker Bob Knight said that Thomas E. Coghill Jr. tried to sell the land on which Crosswinds National intends to build the Downtown Jacksonville project shown in this rendering.

View Larger NORTHEAST FLORIDA --

Thomas E. Coghill Jr. is charming, say people who invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in his various Northeast Florida real estate deals. That's why they believed their investments were secure even after learning Coghill was living and doing business in Florida while awaiting federal sentencing on fraud charges he pleaded guilty to in Virginia.

Now several fear they may not recoup all their money.

Public records and other documentation indicate that Coghill was involved in several real estate investments in Northeast Florida while he awaited sentencing. Investors said Coghill planned to develop at least three residential projects:

On Adams Street next to the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Downtown Jacksonville
At the Conch House Marina Resort in St. Augustine

On oceanfront property in Vilano Beach, just north of St. Augustine. Coghill, through a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, declined to comment.

One Florida resident who did business with Coghill in Florida said he promised large returns on investments and is still making promises from his cell in Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Ala.

Coghill has served about 14 months of what was originally a 33-month sentence for one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. He also owes more than $3 million in restitution to victims in Virginia. FPC Montgomery spokeswoman Chalon Moore said his projected release date is Jan. 27, 2008.

Curtis Fallgatter of Jacksonville-based Fallgatter, Farmand & Catlin PA represented Coghill in Virginia, but did not return phone calls. Robin Conner, an attorney at St. Augustine-based Bedsole and Conner Attorneys at Law, said he represented Coghill on real estate matters in Florida before he went to prison.

Conner said the matters differed from what Coghill was involved with in Virginia. "What he's doing down here has nothing to do with what went on up there."

Doing business in Florida
From the time he was indicted in November 2004 until he began his sentence in May 2006, six limited liability companies were started with Coghill listed as the manager or registered agent, Florida Department of State Division of Corporations records show.

"It's possible to have an entity and not conduct business in that entity," Rogers Towers PA attorney Kirby Chritton said. "Most people don't do that, but there are occasions when they do to hold a name."

In at least two cases -- involving the Conch House and a high-rise project at 1721 E. Adams St. in Jacksonville -- the listed agents of the limited liability company that bought the properties included individuals who were listed as agents in other LLCs with Coghill, state records show.

Coghill was not listed as an agent in the LLCs that bought those properties. Investors, a broker and a subcontractor said, though, that Coghill claimed to be at least a partial owner.

Riverfront Development Group II LLC bought the 22.8-acre site at 1721 E. Adams St. for $19.9 million Sept. 15, 2005, according to the Jacksonville Property Appraiser's Office. Coghill's name is not listed on the documentation. Addison Commercial Real Estate Inc. broker Bob Knight said the land is still for sale.

Knight last spoke with Coghill in April 2006, when Coghill was in Jacksonville to discuss the Adams Street site. Coghill told him then that he was a principal, Knight said. "The next time I tried to reach him, his cell phone was disconnected."

Crosswinds National LLC, based in Novi, Mich., said it is the site's majority owner. Crosswinds is a residential builder and developer with properties throughout the U.S., including five in Northeast Florida.

The company is proceeding with plans to transform the industrial land on Adams Street into a mixed-use project featuring three towers -- the tallest of which may be 30 stories -- and a marina, said Jock McCartney, Crosswinds vice president of planning and engineering. Construction could begin early next year.

McCartney said he did not know if Coghill was involved. Other Crosswinds executives did not return phone calls.

More Florida deals
A St. Augustine property described in court documents as E-19 and E-20, Conch House Marina, owned by Conch House Builders II LLC, was foreclosed on in March. Coghill was listed as a defendant on the foreclosure documents.

Intervest National Bank in May filed notice it plans to take legal action against Conch House Builders on 13 parcels listed as Davis Shores Ocean View Section.

St. Augustine resident and real estate investor Stephen Cobb met Coghill in 2005. While investing $250,000 in the oceanfront condo project in Vilano Beach, Cobb discovered Coghill had been charged with six counts of fraud relating to his homebuilding business in Virginia.

Cobb said Coghill assured him the charges would be dropped and that his investment would be sound. Coghill promised Cobb a 30 percent return on his investment, according to a memo Cobb provided to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Cobb requested his money back because the project was not progressing. He also worried because he said it was unclear whether Coghill owned the property that the project was to be built on and that Coghill might be using his investment for other purposes.

Coghill made several payments to Cobb but one of the checks bounced. Cobb said he is still out $45,000 from the $250,000.

Coghill has continued to tell Cobb and other investors from prison that they will be made whole.
cconte@bizjournals.com | 265-2227