Feb. 02–Jack Antaramian, a 73-year-old prominent Naples developer, was found dead Monday, police said.
Police were investigating the death at Naples Bay Resort.
“Police and fire are trying to ascertain the cause of death right now,” said Naples Mayor John Sorey.
Officers, who were called about 1:34 p.m., arrived at the resort and found Antaramian dead, according to a police department news release.
“The circumstances surrounding his death do not appear suspicious at this time,” the release states.
Four Naples Police Department SUVs were parked in the front of the Naples Bay Resort, near the entrance. A sign was posted noting the resort “is closed for a a private event.” Crime scene tape blocked a walkway in front of condos along the marina waterfront.
Bob Jack, who runs Character Eyes store at the resort, said he returned from lunch around 2 p.m. Monday to find a police car, fire truck and an ambulance. He said a marine patrol boat was coming through the marina at the time.
Antaramian was nearing the end of a bitter, long-running feud with his former partners in the Naples Bay Resort project.
A bankruptcy judge declined to confirm a reorganization plan that he proposed last year. That opened the door to competing plans that were to be considered in the coming days.
“Obviously he’s been under a lot of financial pressure,” Sorey said of litigation that has been going on for years between Antaramian and his business partners, who were trying to settle as Antaramian continually resisted.
Sorey noted Antaramian left a legacy in Naples.
“There’s no question he was a major influence on the rebuilding of Fifth Avenue South and the greater Naples area,” he said.
After Antaramian filed his reorganization plan in November, his bankruptcy attorney said it was designed to unify the resort, club and shops in downtown Naples, putting them all under his control and management. Antaramian wanted his former partners to give up their ownership in the club and shops. In return, he offered to walk away from their shared interests in four other commercial properties in the Naples area, and in Fort Myers.
The plan didn’t sit well with his former partners, or most of Antaramian’s other creditors.
His company, Antaramian Properties LLC, filed for Chapter 11 protection in August, with more than $20 million in debt. With million-dollar judgments and a series of court rulings against him, Antaramian said at the time he had no choice but to file for bankruptcy to reorganize his company so it could pay off what it owed.
Creditors now could propose competing plans. Antaramian , himself, also could file a new one.
“I do not know what we are going to do,” he said in an email last month.
Court records show that since the bankruptcy filing, one of Antaramian Properties’ largest creditors, Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, has reached a confidential settlement with Antaramian .
