Last December, Tampa's iconic Fun-Lan Flea Market and Swap Shop suddenly closed as vendors and employees scrambled to find new gigs. Rumors swirled over who purchased the property, for how much, and for what purpose.
Now, those questions have been answered.
The property was signed over through a General Warranty Deed to Richman Hillsborough Apartments on Feb. 15, a housing developer, for $11.34 million.
According to the county, the property is supposed to become multi-family housing.
The apartment company paid $5.84 million more than the original purchaser, GFY Trustee Services, which bought the property in December for $5.5 million. Just a little over three months later, GFY doubled its money with their sale to Richman Hillsborough.
Richman is known for building luxury apartments, but its website says it has 96 “affordable” units in South Florida for people making 26%-60% of area median income (AMI). Richman has no affordable properties in Tampa, but has opened 1,131 units its its four “signature” local developments.
Though GFY purchased the property, last month a partner at the company told CL that they represent a client, but did not disclose who.
On Feb. 15, the deed was signed, and later uploaded to the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court's website.
On background, a county official said it looked as if GFY was able to purchase the property for a low price and make a major profit in a short amount of time.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reached out to GFY Trustee Services for more details about the sale but did not receive a response. Richman Hillsborough have not respond to an inquiry for details about the upcoming housing on the property. This post will be updated if responses come in.
In December, the property was sold to the apartment company by Betty Henn, owner of the Fun-Lan company.
According to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser records from the early-'90s, Henn purchased the property for $475,000.
UPDATED 02/28/22 9:56 p.m. updated with figures on Richman's "affordable" and luxury units in Florida.
Tampa's Fun-Lan drive-in has sold to an apartment company for over $11 million
The company that originally purchased the land last December doubled their money in the sale.
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About The Author
Justin Garcia
Justin Garcia has written for The Nation, Investigative Reporters & Editors Journal, the USA Today Network and various other news outlets. When he's not writing, Justin likes to make music, read, play basketball and spend time with loved ones.
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