LTC 027-2004 Pelican Transfer of Lease Agreement CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. o27-200
Date: February 2, 2004
To: Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~
From: City Manager-' /It,''`./--'~
Subject: PELICAN TRANSFER OF LEASE AGREEMENT
On December 10, 2003, the Mayor and City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2003-
25436 declining in writing the Right of First Offer Transaction and further authorized the
City Manager and City Attorney to approve/disapprove the proposed sale and assignment
of Pelican Development LLC's 100% interest in the leasehold to Ocean Blvd II LLC, an
Indiana limited liability company, as required under the terms of section 10.5 of the
Agreement of Lease upon completion of the city's evaluation of information in connection
with the proposed transfer of the Project and the proposed Purchaser.
As part of the City's evaluation of the proposed Purchaser, issues and concerns arose
regarding some past dealings of the Purchaser. As such, the City contracted Kroll
Associates, Inc. to conduct a full due diligence investigation of the Maefield Development
Corporation, an affiliate of Ocean BIvd Il LLC (Mark A. Siffin, Managing Member) and Mr.
Mark Siffin.
The evaluation consisted of a comprehensive background investigation of Mark A. Siffin
through database searches to verify the information provided by Mr. Siffin, determining if
he has been involved in any controversial issues, subject to any criminal or civil actions,
has any outstanding litigation or unresolved issues, which would make him an unsuitable
business partner.
As a result of the information provided by Kroll (attached), the City requested an extension
of time to consider the proposed transfer in an effort to seek clarification on information
contained in the report and to meet with Mr. Siffin. An extension has been granted until
Feb 6, 2004.
While the Kroll Associates, Inc. report is attached, Mr. Siffin has provided a document, that
is also attached, responding to information contained in the Kroll report and attempting to
clarify what he feels is misleading and incorrect or incomplete information. I have had the
opportunity to meet directly with Mr. Siffin and have fully explored all of the issues that
have been raised. Mr. Siffin has also offered to meet with each of you individually to
answer any questions you may have.
I will brief each of you on the status of the information evaluated by the Administration and
the City Attorney and on the meeting held January 28, 2004 with Mr. Siffin, to seek your
guidance.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
JMG/CMC/rar
F:\cmgr~ALL\LTC-04\Pelican .mern.CMC.rar.doc
c: Murray H. Dubbin, City Attorney
484
VIA FACSIMII.~
January 30, 2004
Mr. lorge M. Gouzalez
City Mauager
City of Miami Beach
City Hall
1'/00 Comen~on Center Drive
Miami Boa& Florida 33139
Proposed Purchase and Sale Agreement for Seller's leasehold interest
in the Agreement of Lease (the "Lease") between the City of Miami Beach and
Pelican Development, LLC ("Pelican") dated December 1, 1999
Dear Mr. Goa~alez:
This letter shall serve to confirm that Pelican at~'ees to extend the time for the £it~ to respond to
Pelican's rextu~st to assign the Lea.se to Ocean Blvd. II, LLC tmtil 12:00 nooa on Friday, Febraau 6,
200¢. Please call me with any questiolls.
Very truly yours,
Michael T. Lynott
cc:
Christina Cuervo, City of Miami Beach (via telefax)
Murray Dubbin, City Attorney (via telefa, x)
Bloom & Minsker
1401 Brickell Avenue, Suite 700
Miami, FL 3313 l
Arm: Joel Minsker, Esq. (via t¢[efax)
Greenberg, Tnurig, P.A.
1221 Brickcll Avenue
Miami, FL 33131
Arm: Richard J. Giusto, Esq.
Oc,¢an Blvd 1~ LLC
3211 S. Walnut S rcet, Suite 2
Bloomington, IN 47401
Arm: Mark A. Siffin (via t~lefax)
C ~.Zl~NBIII~C 'l'fa'JnlC.. P,A,
L2ZlBalC~,% A~NVE MIAMJ. FI.o~DA33)31
105-$79-0500 FIXIOS-iH-0717 w~w.~tlaw
01×~0/04 i2:10 GREENBERG TRAURIG ~ 305 693 ?982 N0.484 Q03
Mr. ]urge M. Gonzalez
January 30, 2004
Page 2
Bose McIOnney & Evans LLP
600 E. 96* Street, Suite 500
Indi~napo]is, IN 46240
Attn: Philip A. Nicely, Esq. (via t~lcfax)
Dwyer & Carabre
3421 No~'$.h Causeway Blvd., Suite 707
Metairie, LA 70002
Ama: Stephen I. Dwyer, Esq. (via telefax)
Pelican Development, LLC
601 Poydras Street, Suite 20l 1
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
At'tn: Wayne Ducote (via telefax)
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