Businessman offers Hillsborough a bargain building — with a catch

TAMPA — Hillsborough County used the last real estate downturn in the early 1990s to snatch up a stylish new high-rise on the cheap to house its main government offices downtown.

Commissioner Ken Hagan says the county may have a similar opportunity as it plans a new emergency operations center.

Builder Bing Kearney, whose businesses rose and fell with the economy, is offering his former Riverview headquarters as a move-in-ready alternative to starting from scratch. The furnished three-building complex, which is facing foreclosure, is hurricane-hardened, has lots of space and could go for $10 million less than the $31.4 million the county set aside.

"It appears this complex far exceeds the requirements," Hagan said. "And it appears to be an opportunity to save taxpayers money."

One big potential problem: The buildings are in a flood zone where a Category 2 storm forces residents to evacuate.

An engineering consultant hired by the company that owns the complex, MAPMS, says the buildings are elevated enough to escape all but the worst storm surge. In fact, it stands less of a threat from flooding than does county-owned property near Falkenburg Road, where the county currently is planning the emergency operations center.

Hagan plans to present Kearney's offer to commissioners today. He said he is seeking only to have staff evaluate it.

A spokeswoman for MAPMS said her client is offering the property for sale or for a short- or long-term lease, depending on what works for the county.

"The first thing first is to identify whether the building meets the county's needs in any way," said lawyer Kami Corbett. "As far as we're concerned, we're in the preliminary phases."

Commissioners voted in August to set aside money for up to a 72,500-square-foot emergency operations center on as much as 30 acres off of Columbus Drive west of Falkenburg Road.

The current center on E Hanna Avenue is a fraction of that size, and could face damage in a minor storm.

County officials want to be able to use a new building to house other critical services.

A majority of commissioners reached Wednesday said they'd want to open the door to other potential suitors before entertaining Kearney's offer in detail.

"It would have to be a process that is open to all," said Mark Sharpe, a longtime advocate for a new operations center. "It absolutely has to make good sense and be driven by staff analysis and not any other consideration."

Kearney's construction, transportation and development businesses boomed in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the explosion of residential and commercial building.

The more than 50-year-old Kearney Construction Inc., started by Bing Kearney's father, groomed the land for construction of Citrus Park Mall and International Plaza.

Less than three years after opening the new company headquarters now getting offered to the county, Kearney Construction filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as work slowed or stalled on projects such as Cypress Creek Town Center in Pasco County. Last March, GE Commercial Finance Business Property Corp. filed notice that it was initiating foreclosure proceedings.

Corbett said the property has been vacated for more than a year. It is well-appointed, with state-of-the-art communications equipment, fueling stations, furniture, big meeting rooms, a commercial-grade kitchen and showers.

There is space for a helicopter landing site and walls are tilted and reinforced to withstand winds of 130 mph.

It's big enough — 100,000 combined square feet — to hold other government operations and could be running in time for the Republican National Convention in August if needed, Hagan said.

Commissioners have a similar opportunity as their predecessors, who in 1992 bought the 28-story County Center building for $30 million, Corbett said.

"It's on the market now because the company no longer has a need for this size of a facility," Corbett said. "I think it's an opportunity for savings to the county."

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Bill Varian can be reached at (813) 226-3387 or varian@tampabay.com.