Bond Returns

When Fort Myers developer Joe Cameratta decided to develop two residential communities on Corkscrew Road in Estero, he turned to the kind of financing that few people thought would ever see daylight again.

Cameratta sold more than $13 million in community development district bonds to investors. These CDD bonds were popular during the boom when many developers sold them to finance the roads, sewers and other expensive infrastructure in new communities sprouting everywhere during the boom.

After the real estate collapse, most industry observers never expected investors to ever buy these bonds again. According to the Florida Community Development District Report, there are 600 community development districts in Florida, 438 of which were begun in 2003 through 2008. They have issued $6.5 billion in municipal bonds to finance their infrastructure. Since the collapse of the housing market, more than 168 of these districts are in default on $5.1 billion of bonds.