An Aug. 4 bankruptcy filing by WCI Communities Inc. will not deter the Florida-based homebuilder from eventually building a high-rise condominium project in downtown Columbia, a company spokeswoman said this week.

In 2006, the county gave WCI the go-ahead to build the Plaza Residences, a 22-story condominium complex in Wincopin Circle in downtown Columbia. But construction has been stalled by a legal challenge from county residents.

WCI spokeswoman Maya Pogoda said the company still plans to build the Columbia tower.

"The company believes in the project and will continue to pursue its rights in the court system," Pogoda said Tuesday, Aug. 12.

WCI has built upscale housing in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia for 60 years, according to a company press release. The company directly employs approximately 1,800 people as well as approximately 1,800 sales representatives as independent contract employees.

But WCI has been suffering from financial problems in recent months. The bankruptcy filing, Pogoda said, was to restructure the company's debt, but would not prevent the company from eventually building the tower.

A critic of the project said the bankruptcy filing will not effect the legal challenge to the project.

"WCI's bankruptcy has very little relevance to the merits of the case," Joel Broida, of Columbia, said in a voice mail message.

Broida was one of four county residents who challenged the county Planning Board's approval of the project in January 2006, arguing that the approval was based on an improper zoning change.

The county hearing examiner ruled that the four lacked legal standing to challenge the Plaza Residences project. After various appeals, Maryland's Court of Special Appeals last month reinstated Broida, although not the other three plaintiffs.

WCI has delayed construction of the project pending the resolution of the court case.

Broida said Aug. 12 that WCI's bankruptcy would not change his case against the company, which still is based on a zoning challenge.

Kevin Enright, a spokesman for County Executive Kenneth Ulman, declined to comment on WCI's bankruptcy except to say the company had the necessary county permits to begin construction.

In January, WCI returned deposits to people who had reserved units in the planned complex, as a courtesy during the legal challenge.

Margaret Kaufman, of Ellicott City, one of those who had a deposit returned, said this week she still hoped one day to move into the high-rise, but that the bankruptcy had dimmed her hopes.

"We're still interested, but our hopes are not as high as they once were," she said. "Our fingers are crossed."

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