ST. PETERSBURG — The man who helped ignite redevelopment in Midtown in 2005 and is now working to open a restaurant in a public building there is mired in financial problems.
Larry Newsome, whose company built Tangerine Plaza, has faced several million dollars in foreclosures, court judgments and tax liens since 2010.
There was no discussion of Newsome’s financial troubles when the City Council agreed in November to allow him to open a restaurant in the historic Manhattan Casino, which taxpayers spent $2.8 million to refurbish in 2005. To work, the deal requires a substantial investment from Newsome’s company, Urban Development Solutions.