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Cruise operator questions port lease delay

The Tampa Port Authority may be planning a different future after the Downtown Channelside project, Yacht StarShip's top official says.

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published October 19, 2005

TAMPA - After 19 months of talks with the Tampa Port Authority about a long-term lease for Yacht StarShip Dining Cruises, chief executive Troy Manthey got an unexpected letter.

The public agency's staff wrote in August that it was not prepared "at this time" to offer a new lease that would guarantee the ship could remain at a dock near the Channelside entertainment complex beyond November 2006.

Manthey told port commissioners Tuesday that problems raised by staff - most tied to construction of an adjacent condo tower - weren't new and shouldn't sidetrack the negotiations.

"This leads me to believe the port authority is planning a future without the StarShip," he said.

Port director Richard Wainio said the agency has to work out how StarShip and large cruise ships docked beside Channelside will operate once the developer of the Downtown Channelside project takes over a parcel just east of the entertainment complex.

Trucks carrying provisions to the cruise ships and dining yacht make deliveries from the site. StarShip also uses the dirt lot as parking for employees and guests. A consultant is working out a plan to coordinate those activities once the site is under construction, Wainio said.

"Our goal is to have a contract (with StarShip) . . . in the area where he is now," he said.

Port Authority chairman Gladstone "Tony" Cooper said port staffers too often drag their feet negotiating tenant leases. On his motion, port commissioners instructed Wainio to come back in December with a new lease or reasons why it can't be done.

In other business, commissioners heard objections from the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries Association about developers of Port Ybor leasing their first warehouse to the U.S. Postal Service instead of a business associated with cargo shipping.

The parcel distribution center will create more than 150 local jobs and likely be converted to maritime use after the five-year lease expires, said Bob Abberger of developer Trammell Crow.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms said the postal service won't help attract private business to the development. Other port commissioners supported the lease and argued that it doesn't mean the port is selling out traditional maritime businesses.

"I don't think this really represents the big picture of where the port is headed," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. "The port is a melting pot of uses that have to be balanced."

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813 226-3384.

[Last modified October 19, 2005, 00:29:13]