Lone tenants in Fla. high-rise seek exit from deal

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Victor Vangelakos and his family never have to worry about noisy neighbors in their luxury condo on the Caloosahatchee River.

There are no neighbors.

Vangelakos, 45, his wife, Cathy, and their three children are the only residents in the 32-story Oasis I condo on the east edge of downtown Fort Myers.

The Weehawken, N.J., firefighter bought the condo from The Related Group, based in Miami, for $430,000 and closed on it in November. He planned to make it a vacation getaway and eventually his full-time residence when he retires in four years — but prices have fallen hard since the real estate bubble burst in early 2006.

Only a handful of those who put down deposits on the tower's units actually closed on the deal. Those who did have swapped their Oasis I units for condos in Oasis II next door.

Vangelakos didn't, because he was unable to persuade his lender, JPMorgan Chase, to agree to the swap, said Betsy Lu McCoy, vice president and associate corporate counsel for Related.

That leaves the Vangelakos family splitting their time between New Jersey and a surreal life in Oasis I.

They're the only ones using the well-appointed clubhouse, but they can't watch its big plasma TV. "We haven't found the remote controls," Vangelakos said.

Pause for a moment anywhere in the building during the day and the silence is deafening.

At night, Vangelakos said, they often hear people on the grounds or even inside the darkened building itself. It's not hard to break in one of the many entrances. Especially popular for intruders is the swimming pool, Vangelakos said. They heard people there one night "and the next day, all our chairs were in the pool."

Once, late at night, "somebody banged on our door," he said.

His relationship with Related is testy at best. Once, he said, when management turned off his water to fix a leak in a pipe, "we came back 10 days later and the water was off, but our TV was on."