The city sells a downtown building to a resident for $500,000. He turns around and sells it to a publishing company for $700,000.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published May 5, 2004
OLDSMAR - City Council member Janice Miller balked when her colleagues voted last fall to sell a downtown building for $500,000.
The sales price for the old Tampa Electric Co. service center matched the lowest of three available appraisals. The council approved the deal less than a month after the city took ownership.
"It's prime property," Miller said of the building at 106 State St. E, across the street from City Hall. "And with the way our downtown is growing, there could be a whole lot of people interested in that property."
A semiretired real estate agent, Miller thought the 4,400-square-foot building was worth more, even though the city made $150,000 from the sale.
Turns out, she was right.
Buyer Todd Adams, who had considered leasing the building to a professional firm and adding residential apartments and a second floor, said Tuesday he sold the building for $700,000 to a Safety Harbor publishing company instead.
That's a $200,000 windfall in less than five months. It's also twice what the city paid to acquire the property last year.
"I knew he was going to make a nice, tidy profit someday," said Miller, who gasped when she heard Adams' take. "But I had no idea he was going to get $700,000.
"I'm sick."
Adams, 39, said he decided to sell the building after seeing little change to downtown. He's seen good ideas for a revitalized city center, which include a mix of commercial, retail and residential projects, but little physical progress.
He said he was fair with the city.
"Their vision is good, but I just don't see it going anywhere," Adams said. "There's not really a game plan yet that I can foresee actually happening."
Tampa Electric moved out of its offices in August after the city amended a franchise agreement that allowed the company to pull out of Oldsmar. In exchange, Tampa Electric sold the property on State Street to the city for $350,000, well below the company's $500,000 appraisal.
Adams had been interested in the property when he knew Tampa Electric was trying to leave, but the city struck first.
He immediately approached the city, and both sides quickly worked out a deal.
Adams offered $500,000, equal to the Tampa Electric appraisal. A city appraisal was for $535,000, and Adams said another appraisal was slightly higher than that.
The council accepted Adams' offer in October, over Miller's objections.
Mayor Jerry Beverland said then the decision to sell to a city resident would help officials influence downtown's renaissance.
Other city officials said at the time it made sense to sell the building without listing it through a real estate agent who would charge the city a commission. Before the sale, Beverland said the city didn't need to solicit offers from other prospective buyers and could negotiate its own terms. City ordinances require advertised bidding for purchases of more than $10,000 but do not mention selling property.
Adams took over the building in December. He sold it last month at a 40 percent profit.
The new owner, CountrySide Publishing Company Inc., has moved from Safety Harbor to the Oldsmar building. A company representative did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday. But according to its Web site, CountrySide Publishing specializes in sales and marketing tools for the building industry.
Alan Feldshue, a senior associate with Colliers Arnold, a commercial real estate firm, said it sounds like both sides did the right thing.
"If someone is lucky enough to sell it and make that kind of profit, good for them," Feldshue said. "Could the city have done the same thing? Who knows?
"Hindsight's always 20-20. If they came to me and said they had an unsolicited offer of $500,000, and me not knowing the condition of the building, I'd probably say take it."
Miller said the city could have made a smarter choice.
"My hat's off to (Adams). . . . We were snookered," Miller said. "Why would we sell this to somebody else so quickly and let them make the all the money?"
