Vinik Downtown Project in Deep Trouble!
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The Boston Globe said Vinik “reinvented” himself but Tampans have discovered that only applies superficially.
Water Street Tampa, the highly-touted $3 billion “vision” of local businessman and Tampa Bay Times investor Jeff Vinik, is in deep trouble and may be taken over and/or liquidated by Cascade Investment, the Bill Gates-owned equity firm that provided financing.
Several highly-placed sources within the Tampa Bay business community confirmed that information
to Tampa Bay Beat.
One termed Vinik’s situation as “desperate.”
Another asserted Strategic Property Partners, Vinik’s development company, will take an “all or nothing gamble” to save the project.
A third mused that he would never trade places with the beleaguered former hedge fund manager.
All agreed that Millennials, the heart and soul of innovation and high-tech, lack motivation to relocate here. National headlines emanating from Tampa over the past several years make the city uninviting to innovative, progressive companies as well as established ones with conservative pedigrees.
Promised: a Fortune 500 company, a health-oriented grocery store, a bevy of health and medical research companies and organizations. The only firm commitment so far was built on campaign contributions, aka bribery, and involves a move from the University of South Florida campus to downtown.
A wash for the local economy, a loss for Temple Terrace, and, presumably, a gain for Tampa. Zero sum.
Vinik’s project has long lagged behind his original schedule. The size and nature of the project has been ephemeral as specific benchmarks have
failed to materialize.
If Water Street Tampa goes down the tubes, a couple of hundred million dollars in public funding will circle the drain as well. Then there is the collateral Vinik put up for the loan. Let’s take an educated guess:
—-The Tampa Bay Lightning, a franchise valued at $390 million by Forbes magazine. A new owner may lead the Stanley Cup parade. Maybe the festivities will include a grand jury instead of a Grand Marshall.
—-Amalie Arena. Best guestimate: $600 million.
—-Share of Tampa Bay Times property that “collateralized” Vinik’s $1.5 million “investment” into the failing news entity. Peanuts. $4 million tops.
—-Vinik’s Sarasota monstrous estate just off St. Armands Circle in Sarasota. Built for approximately $30 million including land, it more resembles a museum or mental ward and probably cannot be liquidated
for quite that much.
By Jim Bleyer - Tampa Bay Beat
