It was reported on Wednesday that the investors looking to purchase and redevelop Tampa’s Channelside came to an impasse with the Tampa Port Authority over its proposed purchase of the failing downtown waterfront entertainment and retail complex.
Jamal Thalji of the Tampa Bay Times reports Port Authority staff wants Liberty Channelside and its principals, real estate investor Santosh Govindaraju and hotel developer Punit Shah, to pay $8 million in escrow up front before allowing the port’s governing board to vote on the deal. Liberty has offered to put only $2 million in escrow.
Neither side appeared ready to back down on Wednesday.
However, the issue of the escrow payment was not the only issue which caused negotiations between Liberty and the Port Authority to meltdown, err, come to an impasse.
According to one participant in the discussions, Liberty’s representatives created a particularly hostile environment by repeatedly cursing at counsel and representatives of the Port Authority. Negotiations took a bizarre turn when, reportedly, Govindaraju accused one of the Port’s representatives of over-reaching and said that if they were in his country, they would cut off the liar’s hands for such an offense.
The bizarre nature of the negotiations is reflected in a May 15 letter from Charles Klug, Deputy Port Director of Administration and Port Counsel, to attorney David Shear, who represents Liberty Channelside. In the closing paragraph of his letter to Shear, Klug writes that “…the Port staff remains willing … to continue with negotiations; provided, however, certain rules of decorum are followed. These include no harsh or foul language during the negotiations and no threats to or against any of the participants. The Port will not tolerate such statements or threats and advises Liberty’s representative to govern themselves accordingly.”
You know when a lawyer uses that term — govern yourself accordingly — tensions are running high.
It will be interesting to see how negotiations progress.
