Orca Shores owner working to shore up development

By Meg Olson

Orca Shores LLC is making catching up on property taxes a top priority.

“We are working to resolve this as soon as possible,” said Frank Li, president of Mengfa International Resources Inc. (MIRI), the majority shareholder of Orca Shores, the developer of the Cottages at Seabright Farm sub-division. “Every day costs us.”

Orca Shores currently owes over $250,000 in property taxes, penalties and interest for 2018 and 2019 on the 32 lots (with monetary value) the developer still owns of the 59 at Seabright. Payment for the first half of 2020 taxes is due at the end of April. “We are working hard to address cash flow,” Li said.

MIRI and its parent company in China stepped in to help the struggling development in the fall of 2019, catching up on payments to the homeowners association and critical deferred maintenance.

The Seabright development has faced challenges ranging from a changing real estate market and the death of managing partner Wayne Knowles, to the impression local customs and border protection officers leave on would-be buyers. Buyers who felt intimidated at the border have shied away from buying property in Point Roberts, Li said. “That is not a help.”

As one of the biggest property owners in Point Roberts, the fortunes of the development are tied to those of local taxing districts.

“If people don’t pay their taxes, local districts don’t get the money,” said Lauren Smith, a supervisor with the county assessor’s office.

Of the approximately $50,000 the local fire district is waiting to receive in outstanding property taxes from 2016 to 2019 (the county will move to foreclose after three years of delinquent taxes), the amount owed to the district by Orca Shores LLC for just 2019 alone accounts for $9,000.