Orange Beach council opts against more time for 34-story project, The Verandas | al.com

Orange Beach council opts against more time for 34-story project, The Verandas | al.com: "ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Another of the high-rise condo projects pitched in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan was wiped off the books with the City Council's decision Tuesday not to renew the special zoning awarded more than four years ago for The Verandas.

Pensacola-based Merrill Land Co. won approval in August 2005 to replace a stretch of storm-damaged Gulf-front houses and duplexes on Perdido Key with a pair of 34-story towers. The towers' 336 condos, each with their own Gulf-front balcony, were marketed for prices that ranged from $1.32 million to $1.47 million.

But construction never started. The developers, who had partnered with some 20 landowners whose property made up the 8.7-acre site, asked for and received time extensions in 2006 and 2007. And in 2008 they won a then-unprecedented third extension."