Regions, and its CEO, Feel the Pain in Florida - WSJ.com
We made the big time!
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DAN FITZPATRICK
Destin, Fla.
Early last decade Regions Financial Corp. financed an 11-story condominium complex in one of the nation's hottest real-estate markets, the sugary-white sliver of Florida beachfront known as the "Redneck Rivera."
Dowd Ritter, the man who would soon run Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions, believed so much in the area's potential that he and his wife bought three units inside the new condo complex and four units in another nearby tower overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, and signed a contract for two more in a third tower. All told, the couple agreed to pay about $7.5 million to buy seven condos from 1999 to 2004, becoming part of the real-estate frenzy that gripped the southeastern U.S.
We made the big time!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAN FITZPATRICK
Destin, Fla.
Early last decade Regions Financial Corp. financed an 11-story condominium complex in one of the nation's hottest real-estate markets, the sugary-white sliver of Florida beachfront known as the "Redneck Rivera."
Dowd Ritter, the man who would soon run Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions, believed so much in the area's potential that he and his wife bought three units inside the new condo complex and four units in another nearby tower overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, and signed a contract for two more in a third tower. All told, the couple agreed to pay about $7.5 million to buy seven condos from 1999 to 2004, becoming part of the real-estate frenzy that gripped the southeastern U.S.
