TEMPLE TERRACE — Following a two-and-a-half year standstill of the revitalization of a 29-acre site at the southeast corner of Bullard Parkway and North 56th Street, the city has severed all ties with Vlass Temple Terrace LLC (VTT), the developer residents hoped would see their decade-old vision of a new town center through to fruition.
On Nov. 18 the Temple Terrace City Council voted unanimously to dissolve the relationship due to differences of opinion regarding the master developer agreement in the makeover of the antiquated downtown corridor.
The settlement requires the city to pay VTT $1.6 million for the re-acquisition of the property, minus the completed Phase 1 parcel. In addition, the city is liable for the $159,000 in unpaid 2013 and 2014 property taxes.
The action, according to City Attorney Mark Connolly, brings an end to a lawsuit the city filed in February against VTT for breach of contract.
“Through the hard work during the mediation process by the city manager, staff and council, we were able to save the city about a half a million dollars,” said Councilman David Pogorilich, alluding to earlier talk of a probable $2 million payoff to the project’s former developer to recoup the property.