 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
City help not enough for trade center
By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- The World Trade Center in downtown Tampa is an inviting place. Palm trees and a four-story steel globe greet visitors headed to the suites at 1101 Channelside Drive. But up the marble lobby steps and behind glass doors, the World Trade Center sits 40 percent empty. The $18,871 monthly rent owed to city taxpayers has gone unpaid since February. Without a hope of leasing more offices, Mayor Dick Greco's staff this month ordered the center to vacate the premises. In a letter, city finance director Henry Ennis told the World Trade Association of Tampa Bay that the city would pursue all means to recoup its losses. "Everyone needs to get on the stick," said Greco, who still hopes something can be worked out. The eviction letter, he says, is a way to get "everyone's attention." The problems with the for-profit center illustrate what can happen when government uses tax money to help private enterprise. If the business fails, taxpayers are left with unpaid bills and collection headaches. When it began, organizers saw the World Trade Center as a way to promote international trade in Tampa. By housing lots of small companies that traffic in foreign trade under one roof, partnerships would be made and ideas would be exchanged. Investors in the project include banker Bronson Thayer, who is married to Tampa attorney Stella Ferguson Thayer; John H. Gary III, a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Marine Corps; J. Kenneth Parker, chairman of a St. Petersburg insurance company; Frank G. Cisneros, who ran an agricultural chemical wholesaler; ranch owner William A. Krusen Jr.; and attorney John C. Bierley, the founding partner of a Tampa law firm. The World Trade Center concept began here in 1983 when a London-based developer announced plans to build a center in Tampa. But when the real estate market wouldn't support it, other investors opened a world trade center in St. Petersburg. They bought a franchise from the World Trade Centers Association, best known for the headquarters in the twin towers in New York that fell on Sept. 11. In 1999, the St. Petersburg World Trade Center moved across the bay to the $14-million Joseph Garcia International Maritime Center, which houses the Tampa Port Authority. Unlike other tenants, the center didn't have to sign a lease with the landlord, which is the Port Authority. That's because it had the city's backing. The port wanted to charge tenants $22 per square foot, or $23,065 a month, to rent a second-floor wing of the building. The center didn't think it could support that rent. So the mayor -- and, through him, city taxpayers -- provided assistance. The city paid the port $23,065 a month in rent and then sublet the offices to the center for $18,871 a month, or $18 per square foot. City taxpayers made up the difference of $50,328 annually. "There is no subsidy," said Gary, who in addition to being an investor in the project is executive director of the World Trade Center Tampa Bay. He said the center gives the city 600 square feet of office space rent-free. But the city didn't need the office space. For more than two years, no city employees worked at the center. Only a few months ago, the city moved two offices -- the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund and the city international affairs office -- into the center. The port authority, a public agency that levies property taxes and includes the mayor as a board member, also provided the center with financial help. It chipped in $200,000 to help the center build out its suites. Gary, the executive director, denies the port gave a penny to build the office. "I know they're in error," Gary said. But Mike Macaluso, the port's chief financial officer, checked financial records twice for the Times. He also pulled the check that the port had written a contractor for the project. And the center's sublease says the port will match up to $200,000 for building the suites. "I want to see that check," Gary said. Greco said he doesn't object to helping the group promote international trade. Most cities do it, he said, and many spend much more tax money on similar economic development ventures. "Promoting international trade is one of the most important things we should be doing," Greco said. The city required the center to secure a $200,000 line of credit to cover any losses. The credit line held at Mercantile Bank was reduced in December 2001 to $120,000. The investors also gave the city a $56,614 security deposit. Together, those funds could cover the $115,325 in unpaid rent and 5 percent late fees of $5,766 that have built up so far. The city hasn't demanded the security deposit or bank money, and Greco hopes he won't have to. "They are getting off to a slow start," Greco said. Others say taxpayers should cut their losses. "We tried. It didn't work," City Council chairman Charlie Miranda said. "We should have gotten out. And if any monies are due, we should make an effort to collect those back rents." Mayoral candidate Frank Sanchez, who rents an office address at the center, said he didn't know the city supported his landlord. Sanchez pays about $200 a month to use the center's phones, address and mailroom to create a "virtual" office for his international business consulting business, Cambridge Negotiating Strategies. (He said he didn't remember the exact rent, which his assistant pays.) Sanchez doesn't actually have an office at the center; telephone calls bounce to an assistant who works at a downtown law firm. He said he has paid his rent each month, although he was late once. "I don't know enough about this arrangement to know whether it was a good arrangement," Sanchez said. "I know it is not unusual." If elected mayor, Sanchez said he would look closely at public subsidies for private businesses. "I can't say I would never support it," he said. At the center last week, Gary was working hard to sell more office space. He had an appointment with a Realtor. "I'm going to make it happen," Gary said. Investors were so optimistic that they paid $20,000 a year for two years for an option on land south of the Port Authority headquarters. They still hope to open their own building one day. "I wouldn't be sitting here if I thought it had no future," he said. -- Times staff writer Steve Huettel contributed to this report. Staff writer David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times North of Tampa |
