Belly-up Turtle Club faces wrecking ball

The eyesore next to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport will be razed and the county will seek a new land deal.

By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 4, 2002

For lease: 9.5 acres of primo waterfront land smack in the heart of Pinellas County, visible from the Bayside Bridge and within spitting distance of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Interested? Call Pinellas County government.

County officials say they've had enough of the empty Turtle Club building, where the gaping hole in the roof is so big that it also can be seen from the Bayside Bridge.

On Sept. 14, demolition begins.

The only reason the county hasn't done it already, said County Administrator Steve Spratt, is to give the leaseholders a chance to take out any old refrigerators, stoves or other property.

"I really wanted to get the thing bulldozed, but the lawyers told me I had to at least give them an opportunity to remove their property," Spratt said. "I can't imagine what would be in there that would be worth anything, given that the sun shines through the roof."

The restaurant sits on county-owned land, but was leased to Specialty Restaurants Corp. until February and has been closed since early 1999.

In January, after repeated promises to reopen the restaurant, Specialty signed a new lease agreement with the county. It promised an elaborate $1.5-million renovation, complete with a wedding gazebo, waterfront deck and a waterfall at the entrance.

But a month later, the company missed a deadline and Spratt pulled the plug. He terminated the lease. Since then, the two have argued back and forth. In June, in hopes of avoiding a long legal fight, the county offered to reinstate the lease.

California-based Specialty owns more than three dozen restaurants around the country, including several near the Courtney Campbell Parkway -- Crawdaddy's, Whiskey Joe's, the Rusty Pelican and Castaway.

But by July, the company had decided not to rebuild the restaurant. Officials asked for six months to decide what to do, then a 15- to 25-year extension on its lease. Pinellas County said no.

That could mean a legal fight for the county. Specialty's lawyer, Tampa attorney Bill Guerrant, told the county last month that it will hold the county liable for damages.

"The county never had the right to terminate the lease in the first place," Guerrant said.

Guerrant said he's talked with county lawyers about reinstating the original lease, but, "It's my understanding they're not interested."

Meanwhile, county officials are putting together a proposal for developers to lease the site. It will cost them more: the minimum bid will be 55 cents a foot, instead of Specialty's 17 cents a foot.

The empty building has irritated Spratt. It just doesn't make sense to let prime land sit empty and not produce income for the county, he said.

"It's pretty big and it's right on the water, so there's even some possibility of having some water use to it," he said. "You could have a dock and waterfront dining."

A marina and offices also are a possibility, he said. The county will consider how much revenue any proposals could bring the county, but also the financial stability of the developer and "what will be an exciting destination" for the public, Spratt said.

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