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In brief: Port authority added to ethanol suit

By Times staff, wires
Published April 28, 2007

TAMPA - The Tampa Port Authority has been pulled into a tenant's lawsuit to stop construction of an ethanol plant on the public agency's land. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder in March ordered PEL Laboratories to include the port authority as a defendant in its amended suit against Port Sutton EnviroFuels. EnviroFuels wants to build a plant to produce up to 50-million gallons of ethanol annually on a port authority-approved site next to PEL. The company claims that plant emissions would destroy its environmental-testing business.

L.A. group buys University Mall
TAMPA - Glimcher Realty Trust has agreed to sell University Mall in Tampa to a Los Angeles investment group but will continue to manage the property that's 90 percent leased. Los Angeles-based Somera Capital Management, which has a $1-billion portfolio including the Hilton Garden Inn in Temple Terrace, paid a reported $145-million for the mall. Glimcher said three months ago it had institutional buyers lined up to acquire the mall next to the University of South Florida that has 165 stores and a megaplex movie theater. Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher, which also owns WestShore Plaza in Tampa, said a year ago it wanted to sell University and three other malls so it could turn to other projects in its development pipeline.

A reality check for region's growth
TAMPA - Ah, Portland, Oregon: the streetcars, the coffee shops the quaint row houses. Can it be a model for the Tampa Bay area? Ask planner John Fregonese. Portland's "growth guru" when the city cracked down on sprawl, Fregonese delivers the keynote address at Reality Check Tampa Bay on May 18 at the Tampa Convention Center. Reality Check is the seven-county region's biggest attempt ever to map out how things might look in 2050. Fregonese has done growth plans for Dallas and Denver, and lo and behold, both cities are pursuing commuter rail lines. A similar calling might lie in our future. All aboard Tampa Bay choo-choo?

Whitacre retiring from AT&T in June
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Edward Whitacre Jr. , who led AT&T Inc.'s expansion into the largest telecommunications company in the nation, announced unexpectedly Friday that he will retire as chairman and chief executive in June. Whitacre, 65, also announced at the company's annual meeting that the board has elected chief operating officer Randall Stephenson, 47, to replace him June 3. Whitacre, an outspoken Texan, worked for AT&T and its predecessor companies for 44 years.

Content provider lands ads clients
SAN FRANCISCO - Joost, a provider of free television programming and movies over Internet connections, said Friday that soft drink maker Coca-Cola Co., technology heavyweight Hewlett-Packard Co. and a host of other companies are set to advertise on the Joost network. The ads, to appear by the end of May, are the first for-pay advertising Joost has signed.

[Last modified April 27, 2007, 23:24:50]