By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Bill Foster took a commercial flight to North Carolina last month to dine and go clubbing at EpiCentre, an upscale dining, entertainment, and shopping complex in downtown Charlotte.
Not known for tripping the light fantastic, Foster mingled after midnight with party-goers at a swank nightclub, alone on an overnight trip that cost taxpayers $581 in travel expenses.
It wasn't for pleasure that Foster was there on a Friday night, he said, but business — more specifically, a mission to save the struggling BayWalk complex.
"Within the next couple of weeks, people will know whether or not my trip was successful," he said.
As the one year anniversary of the City Council's decision to cede the public sidewalk in front of BayWalk approaches, the complex is more desolate than ever.
The Oct. 15 vote was one of the most controversial in recent city history, BayWalk's property and leasing managers said they couldn't sign new tenants with the prospect of protesters and roving teens hoarding the sidewalk. They needed to take control of it, they said, to sign up new tenants.
Since then, seven more tenants have left.
Sunglass Hut is moving out this week. Icing, a women's accessories store, moved out this summer. Only one tenant, a furniture store, has been signed during the same period and the complex is about 90 percent vacant.
BayWalk's management said that they had hoped to have new tenants by now, but, as of yet, no announcements have been made.
Foster wasn't yet mayor when the council voted to surrender the sidewalk, a decision that outraged protesters and free speech advocates. But since becoming mayor, he's affirmed the city's support of the BayWalk project. In the past year, the city has spent almost $300,000 to improve security and lighting at the promenade leading to BayWalk and the Mid Core garage at First Avenue N that's used by complex patrons. The more vibrant the complex is, the thinking goes, the more money the city garage will produce.
But Foster and the City Council have acknowledged that their patience is waning. They say it would be politically unpalatable for the anniversary of the vote to pass without new tenants signed.
Foster won't reveal much about the trip. He won't say who asked him to go and he says he can't remember the names of the clubs, bars and restaurants he visited. He won't say who hosted him and won't even full describe the purpose of his visit.
"I was an ambassador of the city," Foster said.
BayWalk's leasing manager, Curtis Rorebeck, and property manager, Tom McGeachy, didn't return phone calls.
Mainly, Foster said, he went to look. He describes EpiCentre as a "three-story BayWalk." The night he was there, he said, it was like the BayWalk of old, with teeming crowds of young and old people. After eating at an unnamed restaurant, he said he went back to his hotel. He wouldn't name it and an expense report filed with the city doesn't name the hotel. He took a nap and woke after midnight to go to a club that he was told would be hopping later at night.
"Then at about 12:30 p.m., I saw a vibrancy at this complex that I thought would be good for St. Pete," Foster said. "It's different than what's on Beach Drive.
"There's one place that's really cool," he said, without naming it.
The tagline of EpiCentre is "Where Charlotte's Nightlife Begins." Its website describes it as "the Southeast's hub for dining, entertainment, recreation, nightlife and hospitality. Featuring an innovative design and accommodating layout, EpiCentre is home to over three dozen unique concepts encompassing over half a million square feet."
The property is owned by The Ghazi Company. Its creative director, Emily Hudgens, said Foster's visit wasn't coordinated through the company.
"We don't know anything about the visit," Hudgens said. "I've talked to my tenants and they didn't know about it either."
The majority of the tenants are owned and operated by Bar Management Group, Hudgens said. Representative with that company couldn't be reached. It owns Suite, an "exclusive night club and lounge, featuring an uncommonly upscale ambiance and breath taking skyline views" and Whisky River, a country-western bar owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. that has DJs, bikini contests and a mechanical bull.
Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (727) 893-8037 or mvansickler@sptimes.com