Buyers linked to Turanchik

A series of trusts with links to the high-profile developer are buying possible sites for low-income housing.

Click here for a list of properties

TAMPA - Ed Turanchik's plan to demolish the Central Park Village housing project depends on answering a big question:

Where will more than 2,500 people who live there go?

Turanchik, the former Olympic promoter turned developer, hasn't answered that question with any specifics. He's only said some residents can live in a new upscale, 157-acre community he wants to build there. Other residents could move to about 150 lots scattered nearby.

But where exactly?

Turanchik refuses to say.

But the St. Petersburg Times has identified about 130 properties that have quietly been purchased by three trustees linked to Turanchik.

Trust agreements are secret, and trustees do not have to say who they represent. But court documents link the trustees closely to Turanchik and developer Bill Bishop, the two managing directors of Civitas, the urban redevelopment company that wants to redesign Central Park.

The three trustees buying up land are Joseph Schwartz, Lawrence Fuentes and Albert C. Kreischer Jr.

Land records show the three work together as co-trustees of the N.W. Trust Agreement and other entities. All separately list an office at 1407 Busch Blvd., which operates as law office and title company for Fuentes and Kreischer, who are real estate lawyers.

In court records, Schwartz also lists a second Tampa address: P.O. Box 18836.

That is the same post office box listed on Turanchik's business card for his new company, Civitas.

Schwartz now works for Civitas, his staff has said.

Schwartz is a real estate broker whose license also is listed in state records under Bishop's, a well-known developer that has joined forces with Turanchik. Schwartz was director of legacy programs for Florida 2012, the Olympic group that Turanchik headed.

The land-buying patterns of the trustees closely mirror Turanchik's plans.

The trustees have bought land next to the Central Park housing project for huge sums, and others for a pittance. All of the 130 properties linked to the trustees and identified by the Times are located in the area Turanchik has said he's targeting.

His group may have options to buy other properties, and deals may be pending. He also has the right to buy scores of city-owned property, which have been set aside by the mayor for him.

Many of the properties already purchased are in Tampa Heights and West Tampa, but most are in east Tampa, an African-American neighborhood that Mayor Pam Iorio wants revitalized.

Iorio has cracked down in code enforcement in east Tampa and hired a manager to focus on economic development there.

East Tampa's fortunes have appeared on the rise because of a $32.5-million federal Hope VI grant that funded the demolition and rebuilding of the College Hill and Ponce de Leon housing projects. Those projects were rebuilt into nicer apartment homes, but so far, most of the residents have not returned.

A November study by the Tampa Housing Authority says that only 25 percent of residents who lived in the projects have moved back.

Some critics of the plan have said they fear the trend could be repeated at Central Park, and the poor simply will be dispersed.

The trustees could not be reached for comment Thursday. Turanchik did not return repeated calls. He was preparing for a meeting this morning, where the housing authority will consider his development plans.

Turanchik has been adamant about secrecy, creating at least 15 companies and trust agreements to shield his activities. He has said he may not even share his list of properties with the housing authority, even though he proposes a land swap with the agency.

Mindful of Florida's public record laws, Turanchik has said he might let officials look at the list - but not take a copy with them. If officials wanted to see the properties, Turanchik said, he would drive to the sites with them.

In an editorial board meeting at the Times last week, Turanchik challenged reporters to track down the properties.

You won't find them, he said.

- Times staff writer Matthew Waite contributed to this report. Times staff writer David Karp can be reached at 813 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com

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