|
Babcock family says no to state's
preservation offer
"... the ... nature of the land transfer would likely cause
the entire transaction to be viewed by the federal government as a
real estate sale." - Richard Cuda, attorney for the Babcock
family, owners of the Babcock Ranch.
(Note: Well, isn't that what it is: a real estate sale? Unless, of
course, there's backroom shenanigans going on that make the sale
"Teflon-coated" when it comes to tax...)
April 12, 2005
By Aaron DeSlatte, The News-Press Tallahassee Bureau
The News-Press
Ft. Myers, Florida
To submit a Letter to the Editor: mailbag@news-press.com
The Babcock Ranch deal is off.
The Babcock family has rejected the state's latest offers of $455
million for 91,000 acres in Lee and Charlotte counties.
Wade Hopping, a Tallahassee attorney and lobbyist who represented the
family in its negotiations with the state, hand-delivered a letter to
Governor Jeb Bush at 3 PM that said the state's offer wouldn't
work.
"If our price was our only difference I am confident that a deal
would have been possible," read a part of the letter, signed by
Richard Cuda, a representative for the family.
The letter said the family had already come down from its original
asking price of $550 million to $480 million.
A big tax bill, however, made the deal untenable.
"But there were difficult obstacles in bridging the difference
between what was for sale, the shares of the Babcock Florida Co., and
what the state wants to own, the Babcock Ranch Land," Cuda wrote.
The state made a straight cash offer for the land and another proposal
that included a third party purchasing the stock of the company and
the state buying about 80,000 acres of land.
"We are advised that this approach may subject the buyer or
seller to burdensome tax liability because the prearranged nature of
the land transfer would likely cause the entire transaction to be
viewed by the federal government as a real estate sale," Cuda's
letter said.
Letters similar to the one Bush got were also hand-delivered to Lee
Commissioner Bob Janes and Charlotte Commissioner Adam Cummings by
Babcock family attorneys.
Janes said he was disappointed that the sale had fallen through
although he was glad the threat of development had subsided for now.
"I prefer this alternative much better,'' he said.
The land is critical to water recharge and the general health of
Southwest Florida's ecosystems, environmentalists say.
The Babcock family had until today to accept the offer. The family
said no to both offers in a letter to the governor.
News-Press staff writer Wendy Fullerton contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005, News-Press.com
|