Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Wins Ownership Of Channelside Bay Plaza

Kathy Steele | Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's vision for redeveloping the beleaguered Channelside Bay Plaza shopping center is the winner in a legal battle over the plaza's future ownership.

A settlement agreement between Vinik's CBP Development and Liberty Channelside (a partnership of Convergent Capital and the Liberty Group) was approved by a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Monday. Port Tampa Bay and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation also signed on to the agreement.

"We are happy with this agreement as it now creates a path for the turnaround of a very important community asset," says CBP executive Jim Shimberg in a joint statement released Monday. "We appreciate the efforts of Liberty Channelside, Port Tampa Bay and IBRC in helping resolve this matter."

According to court documents, CBP will pay $7.1 million for the lease and the port will pay $1.9 million to the bank for the mortgage. A settlement also is in place between Vinik's company and Liberty regarding certain lease assets, prior development plans put forth by Liberty and an end to pending litigation.

In the near future, the public will have a chance to view Vinik's proposed plan in more detail, says Lightning spokesman Trevor van Knotsenburg.

The plaza went into foreclosure in 2010 and has been mired in legal entanglements since. The Irish bank, which itself is in bankruptcy, owns the plaza; the Port owns the land beneath it.

At a July auction, Vinik's development group put in the highest bid for the lease at $7.1 million and later signed a $10 million letter of credit to cover maintenance costs. The port's board pre-approved the bid following a presentation of the company's proposed plan for 'Channelside Live', a mixed use venue with entertainment, shopping, restaurants and a hotel.

Convergent Capital and the Liberty Group did not make a presentation to the port's board but later offered $10 million for the lease and challenged the fairness of the auction. The bankruptcy judge expressed concerns about the process and had postponed a decision on ownership until Monday.

And then the agreement was reached.

"We are pleased this issue is resolved and are confident in Mr. Vinik's plans to redevelop the Channelside retail center," says Santosh Govindaraju, an owner of Liberty Channelside.

Writer: Kathy Steele
Sources: Jim Shimberg, CBP Development; Trevor van Knotsenburg, Tampa Bay Lightning; Santosh Gavindaraju, Liberty Group

Read more articles by Kathy Steele.

Kathy Steele is a freelance writer who lives in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa. She previously covered Tampa neighborhoods for more than 15 years as a reporter for The Tampa Tribune. She grew up in Georgia but headed north to earn a BA degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. She backpacked through Europe before attending the University of Iowa's Creative Writers' Workshop for two years. She has a journalism degree from Georgia College. She likes writing, history, and movies.