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A spokesman for the investors, who have ties to Scientology, says the church will not buy or lease the Clearwater property.
By ROBERT FARLEY and JENNIFER FARRELL
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 18, 2003
CLEARWATER -- A group of international investors who frequently visit the Church of Scientology's downtown religious retreat have purchased a nine-story office building one block away.
Despite its proximity to the church, the building anchored by the AmSouth bank will not be leased or sold to the church, said Tom Wright, a spokesman for the investors.
"These guys are astute investors," Wright said Monday. "They intend to renew the tenants and change little, if anything. More correctly, change nothing."
The white building, which overlooks Clearwater Harbor, sold for $8.2-million March 4.
Its location and position as one of downtown's largest buildings have created a buzz about what the future holds. That buzz intensified as word spread that the new owners are Scientologists.
The church has no plans to buy or lease any part of the building, said church spokesman Ben Shaw.
"I can assure you, the church has no interest in it," he said. "These are just businessmen, and from what I understand, very successful businessmen."
Wright said the buyers first discovered the building on one of their trips to Clearwater for religious services. But he called the buyers' religious affiliation a nonissue
"If they were members of the Episcopal Church, this would be ho-hum boring," he said.
The building at Cleveland and Osceola Avenue sits in the heart of Clearwater's downtown district, a struggling business corridor where city officials are trying to jump-start sweeping redevelopment.
Calvary Baptist Church's historic property across the street is for sale next to City Hall, which city commissioners have agreed to sell if the right deal comes along.
On Monday, Assistant City Manager Ralph Stone said the city is anxious to hear what's in store for the AmSouth building.
"We certainly want to meet with them and see what their plans are," he said of the new owners. "Because that's a key piece of downtown property."
Tenants said they were assured they wouldn't have to move.
In addition to AmSouth, which leases three floors, Pinellas County rents several floors for various departments, including the Clerk of Circuit Court, internal audit division.
Last week, Kevin Burke, one of the new owners, made the rounds at the AmSouth building to introduce himself. He told Martin Richardson of Corporate Sports Marketing Group Inc. to expect "business as usual," Richardson said.
"Our first thought was, 'Do they want all non-Scientologists out?" Richardson said. "That doesn't seem to be the case."
Burke, who co-owns a Los Angeles-based financial management company, heads the investment group. The investors also hold office buildings in Houston and several suburban golf course communities in Mexico, Wright said.
Burke did not return a phone call to his office Monday afternoon.
The other investors are Roberto Santos, Elias Jaffif and Marcos Salame, according to corporate records.
The investors bought the property from Decade Gulfcoast Office Partners, headed by Jeffrey Keierleber. Records from the county Property Appraiser's Office show Decade Gulfcoast bought the property in 1996 for $3.1-million.
"We enjoyed our ownership of it," said Keierleber, who co-owns the Clearwater Bay Marina.
Mayor Brian Aungst said he was curious to see what becomes of the property. "I'm sure we'll find out shortly," he said.
The building's fortune will hinge on the future of downtown, Wright said. When the new Memorial Causeway bridge is complete, traffic to and from the beach will be diverted off Cleveland. Wright said the new owners will let the marketplace dictate their decisions.
"If the bridge kills downtown and that's the end of the Earth, then they would flip the building," Wright said.
Stone said the 96,193-square-foot building is zoned to allow everything from office and residences to retail, restaurants, hotels and motels. The city has tried to encourage a mix of those uses downtown, with a strong emphasis recently on residential development.
For now, the priority for the new investors will be to find tenants to fill vacancies on two floors, said Richard Tarbox, the on-site building superintendent and property manager. The only planned property improvement, he said, is to fence the building's 96,193-square-foot parking lot using a card-access system.