TAMPA - Steve LaBrake, once the city's powerful housing chief, was forced to sell his dream house. And a federal investigation hangs over his head.
But LaBrake is back in business. In the same neighborhoods where he ruled for decades as the city's main real estate deal maker, he is now doing deals for himself.
In recent months, he has been listed as the broker for at least a dozen properties, some commercial, others residential, yet others vacant lots. Black and red signs announcing, "LaBrake Realtors Incorporated," have popped up from west Tampa to Ybor City.
No longer employed at City Hall, LaBrake works out of an office in a strip center on W Columbus Drive.
"Am I in trouble?" he asked a reporter upon unlocking the front door one afternoon last week.
Six city officials who worked under LaBrake when he oversaw affordable housing programs were subpoenaed this month to go before a federal grand jury beginning Tuesday.
The scrutiny began two years ago with reports that LaBrake and Lynne McCarter, then his girlfriend and employee, were building a luxury home in South Tampa at a remarkably low price. The builder was Ryan Construction, which had received more than $1-million in city contracts from LaBrake's office in recent years, raising the specter of a sweetheart deal.
The couple, since married, said they hit hard financial times after LaBrake lost his job under then-Mayor Dick Greco and divorced his first wife. Lynne LaBrake quit for health reasons, including a difficult pregnancy.
LaBrake's current endeavors are nothing he wants to discuss with the news media, he said from behind a desk in his new office, appointed with chairs, brochures, rugs and a ficus tree.
"It won't do me any good," said LaBrake, 52, while eating an ice cream cone.
On a nearby couch, Mrs. LaBrake rubbed the back of their sleepy toddler, Ethan. Mrs. LaBrake now runs a consignment store next door, called Tots to Teens. She is also listed as a sales associate for the real estate business.
"If I were a regular small business owner," LaBrake said, "it might help.".
Instead, he said, he is the fall guy for every gripe against the city's housing department. He complains that he doesn't get a fair shake from the media.
He also says he has cooperated with authorities and has paperwork refuting allegations made against him.
"I gave it all to the FBI," LaBrake said.
He continued, "I gave it to the Ethics Commission," referring to the state's investigation into his dealings while employed by the city. "How do you think I got cleared on those charges?"
A commission official said the state's investigation is on hold, pending resolution of the federal investigation.
As LaBrake forges a career for himself in the private sector after nearly 20 years as a city hand, business is coming along, he said.
One of his clients is David Houseman, a longtime city employee who works in the department LaBrake once headed. Houseman said that for four years he has been intermittently trying to sell a property at 332 S Plant Ave., recently listed at $526,000.
Houseman said he went with LaBrake because he slashed his commission. "He was the one that gave me the best deal," he said.
The investigations into LaBrake's actions didn't bother one former client, Tampa lawyer Harvey Schonbrun. Schonbrun said another agent asked him if it was alright that LaBrake be used as a contact for several properties for which Schonbrun is a trustee.
"Steve is very knowledgeable about real estate and (property) values," Schonbrun said. "I didn't have a problem with it."
But LaBrake said all his know-how couldn't save him from taking a big hit on his own house, the one he built at 3608 W Corona St., where the couple planned to start their life together.
With mounting bills, the LaBrakes put the 4,400-square-foot house on the market, and there it stayed for a year.
He said extensive media coverage of the house scared off potential buyers. Finally, in February, a couple from out-of-state bought it, he said.
The house was originally offered at $650,000. It sold for $477,500 and was last assessed by the county at $551,000.
