tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2007/10/15/da -
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Published on: 10/18/2007
Last Visited: 10/26/2007
Ahead of a Thursday meeting discussing where the redevelopment the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory is headed, Heritage Square LLC president and general manager Thomas J. Marler delivered a letter to Tampa City Council chairwoman Gwen Miller that says converting it into a community center and hotel is moving forward.
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"Given the amount of effort and expense we have put forth to date and the significant economic benefit Heritage Square brings to the community, we are surprised at recent challenges to the selection process," Marler said in his letter.
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"We recognize that there have been recent questions about the process that led to Heritage Square's selection and about the feasibility of Heritage Square," Marler said.
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Heritage finalized a purchase and sale agreement on July 19 and submitted a list of potential relocation sites to the Armory Board on Oct. 4, Marler said in his letter.
"The Guard is now reviewing our analysis on the various site options and is expected to select a site within the next few days," he said."Once the Guard informs us of their desired site, we will acquire that site within the next few weeks."
Heritage has spent $800,000 so far in due diligence and could see that figure rise as high as $1.3 million once a separate purchase agreement for land is secured for the Guard relocation, Marler said.
Heritage has sufficient financial resources to pull off the nearly $100 million project, he said.The company submitted an audit by the firm Kirkland Ross Murphy and Tapp that Marler said confirms Heritage has the "resources sufficient to relocate the Florida National Guard without external financing."
"We except to finance much of the building of Heritage Square with internally generated free cash flows," Marler said."Should we require outside funds, we anticipate no difficulty securing those funds through the same capital markets that we have used to fund our company's growth for the last 15 years."
No timetable on when construction or relocation would begin was provided by Marler.