- March 28, 2024
Loading
TAMPA —Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, citing insurmountable legal hurdles, has pulled out of a major redevelopment project at Channelside, the mixed-use project next to the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
The Lightning announced the move in a statement released earlier today. Vinik and his partners with the project, Tampa businessmen Anthony Everett and Andrew Wright, had formed Metis Channelside LLC to revitalize the once-booming commercial area. The Tampa Port Authority, which leases the property, and the Irish Bank Resolution Corp., which took it back in a foreclosure, awarded the Vinik-led group the project in a bid process in May.
The team, in the statement, says it isn't giving up on redevelopment of the entire area. “After working diligently and patiently for months on the Channelside project, we have come to the conclusion that a significant legal hurdle, beyond our control, could not be overcome,” Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment CEO Tod Leiweke says in the release. “We see great potential for the waterfront and other properties in the Channelside District and at this time, we are focusing our energies on some of those spaces.”
The statement further says Metis notified members of the governing board of the Tampa Port Authority and Interim Executive Director Charles Klug about the decision. The partnership also formally notified the Irish Bank Resolution Corp. “to withdraw and revoke any and all offers made with respect to Channelside Bay Plaza.”
Says Leiweke: “We thank each board and staff member of the Tampa Port Authority and remain hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved for Channelside Bay Plaza as we believe its vibrancy is part of the total solution for the area.”
For more on the Leiweke and the business strategy behind the Lightning and the Forum, click here.