D.R. Horton Inc. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

A company controlled by Wellington millionaire developer Glenn Straub is suing D.R. Horton Inc., claiming the nation's largest home-builder backed out of a big lot purchase at the Tesoro Club at a cost of at least $20 million in lost revenue and related damages.

Straub bought the 1,400-acre Port St. Lucie country club and unbuilt lots in a bankruptcy sale in 2009, but the lawsuit claims D.R. Horton evaded a lot purchase and construction deal that "crushed the market value" of the community.

Straub's West Coast Investors LLC contends the Arlington, Texas-based builder committed in 2012 to buy up to 300 lots and build at least 30 new homes a year, serving as the backbone of a luxury community anchored by two top-drawer golf courses.

In the end, D.R. Horton bought 185 lots at discounted prices but built only 32 homes and rented 22 of them, killing the projected revenue stream from club memberships, the complaint said. The builder has no model homes or sales staff.

"Apart from rentals, D.R. Horton has abandoned Tesoro," according to the complaint filed by Stuart attorney Albert Moore. He had no response by deadline.

The stunning three-story, 100,000-square-foot clubhouse and golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson shut down earlier this year.

"No dues-paying owners of lots translates to no country club initiation fees for the second and subsequent homeowners, and no annual dues or club use fees for golf rounds or food and beverage," the complaint said. "A stagnant country club development like Tesoro with 152 unbuilt lots had crushed the market value of the community as a whole."

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 3 in St. Lucie Circuit Court and removed Friday to U.S. District Court in Fort Pierce. The case was assigned to Judge Robin Rosenberg.

D.R. Horton is represented by Shutts & Bowen attorneys John Dannecker and Emily Martin in Orlando and Eric Christu in West Palm Beach. Dannecker said by email Tuesday, "D.R. Horton does not wish to comment on the pending litigation at this time."

Straub is accustomed to the workings of luxury resorts as the developer of the 2,250-acre club Palm Beach Polo and Country Club but also has seen its ups and downs. He threatened to sell or close the Wellington club this year.

As an experienced developer, he presumably was attuned to the vagaries of South Florida real estate, especially after buying Tesoro in a $10.9 million liquidation deal that handed him the clubhouse, two golf courses, 353 lots and commercially zoned land.

As a strategic player, Straub's real estate investments are varied. He sold Atlantic City's Revel casino hotel for $229 million in 2018 after spending $82 million on the shuttered venture in a 2015 bankruptcy sale. He also made a big profit buying the old Miami Arena property at auction, demolishing the building and selling the land into the sprawling Miami Worldcenter project.

D.R. Horton, in contrast, has been a mainstay in the market for first-time buyers and the move-up market. Its South Florida single-family home communities are priced starting from the mid-$300s to the high $400s.

The complaint lists counts of negligent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement and breach of implied covenant.

Read the complaint: