The Americano Beach Resort lawsuits fall into three tracks, all rooted in Hurricane Irma’s September 2017 hit on the 163-unit Daytona Beach timeshare: a flood insurance claim against the resort’s carrier that settled in 2018, a construction defect case against Commstruct LLC that remains pending, and a series of foreclosure actions the condominium association brought against individual timeshare owners. Westgate Resorts bought the shuttered property in April 2020 and has said it plans to renovate and reopen it.
Why the Resort Ended Up in Court
Hurricane Irma hit Daytona Beach in September 2017. The 10-story Americano Beach Lodge Resort at 60 N. Atlantic Ave. closed and never reopened. By late 2020 it had been shuttered for more than three years, and the damage from that storm set off the insurance, construction, and foreclosure disputes that followed.
The Flood Insurance Case Against Wright National
The Americano Beach Lodge Resort Condominium Association sued Wright National Flood Insurance Company on October 6, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleging breach of the resort’s flood insurance contract.1PACER Monitor. Americano Beach Lodge Resort Condominium Association v. Wright National Flood Insurance Company Berger Singerman LLP represented the association. Judge Paul G. Byron got the case.
It never reached trial. The association filed a notice of settlement on July 31, 2018, and the court administratively closed the file the next day. When neither side filed a stipulated final order by the court’s deadline, Judge Byron dismissed the case without prejudice on October 2, 2018.2PlainSite. Americano Beach Lodge Resort Condominium Association v. Wright National Flood Insurance Co. Settlement terms were not made public.
The Construction Defect Suit Against Commstruct LLC
On January 29, 2021, a construction defect suit was filed in Volusia County Court against Commstruct LLC, a foreign company. The complaint alleges damage to real property caused by construction defects. Court records list the plaintiff as both the condominium association and Westgate Resorts Ltd, consistent with Westgate’s April 2020 acquisition of the property.3UniCourt. Americano Beach Lodge Resort Condominium Association v. Commstruct LLC
The case has moved slowly. Commstruct moved to dismiss in March 2021. Discovery and mediation followed in mid-2023. A jury trial set for October 2023 was pushed to February 2024 after the court granted an order to strike in May 2023. The case remained pending before Judge Mary G. Jolley as of the most recent available records.
Foreclosures Against Timeshare Owners
The association also went after individual timeshare owners. It filed a property case against Judith C. Adams and others on November 12, 2020, in Volusia County Court. A larger foreclosure action followed on May 7, 2021, naming more than a dozen defendants including Gerald G. Gradl, David Fite, Richard Fite, George Thomas Hill, Patricia and John Worrall, and Robert and Betty Massey.4UniCourt. Americano Beach Lodge Resort Condominium Association v. Gerald G. Gradl et al.
The Gradl case was styled as a complaint to foreclose timeshare interests and assigned to Judge Dennis Craig. Docket entries through late May 2022 reference a certificate of title and a certificate for disbursement, indicating at least some units moved through judicial sale. The overall case status was still listed as pending in the last available update, from December 2022.
Westgate’s Purchase of the Property
Westgate Resorts closed on the purchase of the Americano Beach property on April 24, 2020. Volusia County records show a $500,000 sale price, but the actual outlay was estimated at more than $2 million because Westgate also had to buy up the individual vacation share interests held by former owners.5Daytona Beach News-Journal. Now-Vacant Site of Old Beachcomber Inn in Daytona Sold Off at Auction
Westgate founder and CEO David Siegel told listing agent Tim Davis the plan was to renovate the property and reopen it as a Westgate-branded timeshare resort. As of October 2020, the company had not released a renovation timeline or further redevelopment details. The condominium association remains registered as an active Florida nonprofit with the state Division of Corporations.