A Property Seizure in Colombia

Property developer Angel Seda was so bullish on Colombia in 2012 that he put up a promissory note to purchase land on a lake near the city of Medellín. Mr. Seda owned shares in a Colombian company called Newport, which planned to build a lakeside resort community on the parcel. Royalty Realty, his company, was to manage the property.

Things went well at first for the Meritage Project. Buyers scooped up some $34 million of residential units; by the second half of 2016, the construction of five of 23 planned towers was near…