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Port trade center may avoid eviction
By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- A private group that missed a year of rent payments might get to stay at the Tampa Port Authority headquarters after all. The city of Tampa has leased office space from the port and subleased at it a discount to the World Trade Center Tampa Bay since August 2000. But the for-profit group stopped paying the $18,871 monthly rent in February 2002, leading the city to threaten eviction proceedings. The port's governing board agreed Tuesday to lease the space directly to the World Trade Center if the group can get out of its deal with the city. Port director George Williamson said his agency won't get stuck with unpaid rent bills because World Trade Center investors put up a letter of credit equal to three months' rent. "If a payment is not forthcoming in 30 days, you've got 30 days to (collect) and 30 days to move them out," he said. In 1983, a British developer announced plans to build a World Trade Center in Tampa's West Shore district. The effort failed and another investor group opened a trade center in St. Petersburg. In 2000, the center moved into the second floor of the new port headquarters. Investors included banker Bronson Thayer, husband of Tampa attorney and Lykes family member Stella Thayer; ranch owner William A. Krusen Jr.; and attorney John C. Bierley, the founding partner of a Tampa law firm. But the backers said they couldn't afford the $22 per square foot in rent the port wanted. So, the city signed a lease for that amount -- $23,065 a month -- and sublet the space to the World Trade Center for $18,871 per month, or $18 a square foot. City taxpayers made up the difference of $50,328 a year. The city received 600 square feet of office space in return, said John H. Gary III, an investor and the center's executive director. The World Trade Center leases offices, conference rooms and even voice mail and answering services to clients working in international trade. But business dried up with the sour economy and the stigma tied to the center name after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Gary said. The group stopped paying rent to the city last year and by January owed about $180,000. City officials stopped paying the port last month. World Trade Center officials paid last month's rent, Gary said. When the port balked at their proposal to put up $120,000 in telecommunications equipment as rent security for a new lease, investors obtained the letter of credit. The city cashed in a $56,000 security deposit toward the $180,000 debt, Gary said. The group hopes to negotiate a deal to get out of the city lease before Mayor Dick Greco leaves office April 1, he said. City officials did not return calls for comment. -- Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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