$15 million Fanning Springs hotel project on hold, developers say they will finish

FANNING SPRINGS, Fla. (WCJB) - A $15 million dollar hotel project in Fanning Springs has been put on hold following controversy and lawsuits.

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Lawsuit pauses construction of $15 million hotel in Fanning Springs

Update: Construction on Fanning Springs hotel stalled after lawsuit

The first lawsuit came in October 2020. Nature Coast Development Group, based in Fanning Springs, filed a lawsuit against their contractor, WB services. Gilchrist County records show the suit alleges faulty work, failure to finish the work on time, fraudulent billings, failure to pay subcontractors and suppliers, and no worker’s comp.

In a federal counter-suit-- WB alleges Nature Coast failed to make payments to them. The owners of Nature Coast say their architect signed a letter of Cause for Termination of the contractor, citing several reasons including the mishandling funds and breaching of contract, which led to their architect putting a hold on the project and not making further payments.

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“Our architect had to cease and basically stop the bleeding of the project at that time. Right now we are in the process of finding a new contractor to get the project up and going— it is not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’,” said Nature Coast Development Group co-partner Jennifer Collins.

So, two years later and despite the millions of dollars they’ve lost so far, the owners say they are determined to finish the hotel.

“We put all of our livelihood in here … the county and city helped so hard to build this hotel and we will do our best to bring it to our community,” said Nature Coast Development Group co-partner Tess Padot.

This is a developing story.

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