Tampa officials want to know how a house was built for HUD without a permit on land the city didn't own.
By DAVID KARP
Published June 21, 2003
TAMPA - On Sundays, when his church overflows with children, Pastor Otha Lockett of the Resurrection Temple House of Prayer looks across the street. There lies a perfectly good house, abandoned.
The city helped build the white, concrete-block house on N 35th Street and now has at least $67,000 invested in it.
But city officials couldn't sell the house to the church, no matter how much the pastor wants it.
The house was built on the wrong piece of land.
The city allowed Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan Inc., or THAP, to build the house on property it didn't own.
"It's a huge mistake," said Mayor Pam Iorio, who alerted reporters to the issue Friday. "I don't understand how it could have possibly happened."
She reported the issue to an auditor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees how the city uses federal funds for affordable housing.
The house was built under former city housing chief Steve LaBrake, who left the city in 2001 under federal investigation of his ties to THAP.
LaBrake oversaw the housing program that allowed THAP and other nonprofits to buy vacant lots to build affordable housing. THAP bought about 150 lots using city funds and promised to use them to revitalize neglected neighborhoods.
One of those lots was owned by George L. White, who lists an address in Moreno Valley, California.
In September 1999, White agreed to sell the vacant lot in Jackson Heights to THAP for $6,930.
The deal never closed. It wasn't clear Friday why.
White could not be reached for comment, and city officials couldn't explain what happened.
THAP proceeded to build the house anyway. They pulled permits and got federal housing funds through the city to build the house, with a one-car garage, a gable roof and central air conditioning.
The builder was Ryan Construction, the same contractor which built a South Tampa luxury house for LaBrake and his then-girlfriend and employee, Lynne McCarter.
At some point in October 2000, someone in the city raised questions about the house, Assistant City Attorney Jorge Martin wrote in a memo about the deal.
He didn't identify who raised questions or what they said.
"How did they get a building permit?" City Attorney Fred Karl asked Friday.
The issue was never reported to HUD.
"The non-reporting is as bad as the offense," Karl said.
According to a memo, city housing officials didn't tell HUD about the house because they hoped to fix the problem within the three-year window HUD gave the city to complete the project.
Today, the house sits half-built. Boards cover windows, and electrical wiring hangs out of unfinished light fixtures.
The city may have to go to court - and spent thousands more - to claim the property by eminent domain or buy out the owner. The house might be demolished or sold to the highest bidder.
"It's a waste of money," Iorio said.
- Times staff writer David Karp can be reached at 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com
