September 23, 2008 - A condominium-hotel project on Turkey Lake Road near SeaWorld Orlando has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, more than a year after the project put all sales on hold.

Turkey Lake Partners LLC, which was doing business as Sage Resorts, planned to build a 10-story, 260-unit condo-hotel on 5.4 acres near Big Sand Lake.

Now the company says it has between 50 and 99 creditors, and something between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities. The petition, filed Sept. 12 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, did not include a list of the largest unsecured creditors, as required by the court. The case is also stalled because there is nothing in court records to indicate that the company's New York-based lawyer, Raymond Sussman, is permitted to appear before the court in Orlando.

Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Briskman has ordered the company to obtain new counsel or otherwise correct the situation, or else the case will be dismissed.

"Another attorney was supposed to do that filing for me," said Sussman, who indicated Monday he was checking into the situation.

According to a Web site for Sage Resort, units were being offered for prices ranging from $469,000 to $1.3 million. Sussman could not say Monday how many buyers had invested in the unbuilt condo-hotel.

A meeting for creditors is scheduled for Oct. 20 in Orlando bankruptcy court.

Sara K. Clarke can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5664.

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