$100G sought from builder
Soon after Kara Homes declared bankruptcy, contractors at Woodlake Greens in Lakewood packed up and pulled out their bulldozers.Left behind were 113 unfinished homes, roads to be graded and mountains of construction debris to be cleared...Township officials plan to make a special petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, asking that $100,000 be released from the $3.7 million bond Kara Homes was required to obtain prior to construction.

Also left behind was the nearly complete clubhouse, where residents at the age-restricted community were promised a place to exercise, swim and hold neighborhood meetings.

"That's why we came here," said Joe Kaldon, 60, who moved to Woodlake Greens in May. His home sits between two unfinished houses, where the wood looks like it's starting to rot.

While it may take years to get all the problems repaired in the neighborhood, those living in the 106 homes already completed are hoping for one quick fix. It would take $100,000 to finish work on the clubhouse, which remains closed to residents.

Township officials plan to make a special petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, asking that $100,000 be released from the $3.7 million bond Kara Homes was required to obtain prior to construction.

"It can help us get our lives on a better track than it is now," said Jim Lithgow, who moved to the age-restricted community in September 2005. "Right now we have no quality of life."

State Sen. Robert W. Singer, who also is a township committeeman here, said by that releasing $100,000 from Kara's insurance bond — a small amount in the context of the whole Kara saga — the quality of life for the more than 200 residents at Woodlake Greens will be greatly improved.

"Without the use of that facility, it's not really a senior community," Singer said.

When the residents of Woodlake Greens moved to Lakewood, it was with the promise that there would be a clubhouse and pool at the site. Such facilities function as the focal point of age-restricted neighborhoods.

After contractors abandoned the site in the fall, the township ordered work crews into the neighborhood. Piles of debris, rising 17 feet high, were cleared out. Pot holes were fixed, and temporary repairs were made to various drainage problems.

"Fortunately, the township has stepped in and done a lot for us here. They didn't have to do it. We feel like we've turned a corner here," said Lithgow, 67, a member of the neighborhood's homeowners association.

Though 113 homes still need to be built, though there are still drainage troubles and ungraded streets, a clubhouse will restore a feeling of normalcy, residents said.

"We all look forward to this getting finished to bring the community together," said John Senatore, who moved to Woodlake Greens in October 2005.

"We've got 95 percent of this thing finished. We were struggling to try and get the community together, and we still are to a degree," added Lithgow.

East Brunswick-based Kara filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 5, citing a slowdown in the real-estate market as the reason.

Kara's bankruptcy has left hundreds in New Jersey uncertain about the fate their unfinished homes.

Raymond G. Coles, Lakewood's mayor, said he hopes for a positive outcome for the residents of Woodlake Greens, and that they'll soon have their clubhouse.

"We'd love to get it up and running for them," Coles said.

 
(PHOTO: MICHAEL MC LAUGHLIN/SPECIAL TO THE PRESS)

The community clubhouse is unfinished and closed to residents of Woodlake Greens in Lakewood.