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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #67 - Discussion Itemf i Bayside T-Shirts 4 401 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33130 (305) 594-1110 Sul,-q:ri', e _i -record in July 26, 1994 itelzl j To: Mayor and City of Miami Commissioners RTrftr t-XCt.l Katy Clexk Re: Minority Participation Agreement Between City of Miami and Bayside Center Limited Partnership From: Panzegna, Owner, Bayside T-Shirts Honorable Mayor, City of Miami Commissioners I am Ms. Panzegna, owner of Bayside T-shirts. I'm here today to ask you to investigate the minority business participation agreement between the City of Miami and Bayside Center Limited Partnership. I am going to show you how the Bayside Center Limited Partnership is violating the agreement it made with you, the leaders of our City. Further, I will share with you the negative effect this has had on the minority business owners who operate their businesses at Bayside. First, let me give you a quick update on the Minority Participation Agreement. We were the first tenant to sign a lease with Bayside in 1986... and the first to sign under the Minority Participation Agreement. We signed that lease agreement believing the City of Miami and Bayside were totally committed to the success of the minority program. In the past 8 1 j2 years, the agreement has been violated in many areas. I am bringing the four most important to your attention. These violations fall under Section 4.1, 4.2 , 6.2, and Article 7 of the Minority Participation Agreement. Article 4: Leasing Section 4.1. Goal: Under the goals of the Agreement, the City and the Developer agree that the Project should have the highest possible number of Minority Tenants consistent with the economic viability of the Project. Page 2 - Panzegna - Bayside T-Shirts When I and the other 25 black -owned business owners set up shop at Bayside I under the Minority Agreement ... we were putting our life savings, our blood, sweat and tears on the line. No one knew if Bayside was going to prove successful... the doubters looked at the downtown location, the drugs... the whole mess... and the fact that it had never been done before in Miami. We paved the way for the Hardrock Cafe, the Warner Bros. , the Gap and other national chains who are there now. Bayside is economically viable because we paved the way. However, there are now far less black -owned businesses operating at Bayside than the 25 who took the risk. Section 4.2 - Developer Obligations { A) Developer will set aside not less than 50 per cent of the number of spaces to be ! leased to Minority Tenants. In the beginning, as I mentioned, there were over 25 Black -owned businesses in the minority program. Today, we have less than 10 Black -owned businesses participating in the program. B) Developer will designate high volume leasing categories in which minority tenants have been successful in other projects developed by affiliates of the Rouse Co. Bayside T-Shirts has been recognized by Bayside Management as Number One in my category -- t-shirts -- for four years in a row. Additionally, 1 was recognized in March as one of the top five women business owners in Dade County by the National Association of Women Business Owners. I have copies of the letters from management and articles for you to review in the packet I'll give you at the end of my presentation. Since 1990, Bayside Management has allowed major t-shirt chains to open stores and kiosks under my category. 94- 602.1 Page 3 - Panzegna - Bayside T-Shirts In May, I was asked to sign off on my approval of the eight existing t-shirt stores in Bayside as part of my lease renewal process. One of the eight was a company called Images. When this company actually opened July 1st, it was called Crazy Shirt ... which is one of 50 stores in a nation-wide chain, and it has been a supplier of my merchandise for many years. That is why they did not put the store's real name on the list. I believe this represents the lack of good faith under which the Bayside Limited Partnership has been operating with the City of Miami Minority Participation Agreement. It's not just my business here that we're talking about, Gentlemen. Many other black - owned businesses have been affected... including Jerry Subs, represented by Stephanie Derring, who is here today ... and is currently in litigation with Bayside Limited Partnership over similar issues. D) Developer will also make diligent good faith efforts to identify as appropriate and stimulate joint -ventures between prospective minority merchants and qualified non - minority business persons or entities in order to provide the minority partner with the financial or management support necessary to become or remain a viable minority tenant in the project. There's no dispute that my company, Bayside T-Shirts, has produced among the highest sales in its category. Not once in the past 8 1 /2 years, however, have I been approached with any joint -venture opportunities. Instead, my efforts have been undermined by Bayside efforts to bring in national t-shirt stores with huge advertising budgets and other marketing resources which I must compete with to survive. What I believe is happening is a quiet, behind -the -scenes effort to disenfranchise the minority program. Article 6: Tenant Employment Operations Section 6.2- Developer agrees to use its diligent good faith efforts to hire minority for at least 75% of its project operation positions and for at least 50% of key management positions of the Developer. There are no Black decision -makers at the Management level. This section of the Minority Participation Agreement has never been met. 94- 602.1 Page 4 - Panzegna - Bayside T-Shirts Article 7: Minority Committee. In the past 8 1 j2 years, to my knowledge, no such committee has ever been formed or met. I have never received any notification of a meeting or invitation to participate in any way. I am certain, Honorable Mayor and Commissioners, that you want the Minority Program to succeed, and that you fully expected the Minority Participation Agreement which you entered into with the Bayside Center Limited Partnership to be carried out. am sure you will be as dismayed and disappointed as I and the rest of the Miami's minority community have been when you look into this matter further. To help prevent a further deterioration of the relationship between the minority business community and the City, I respectfully request three actions: First) That the City appoint an arbitrator between the Rouse Company, developers of Bayside, and Bayside T-Shirts based on the fact that the Rouse Company has failed to meet the goals set forth in the Minority Participation Agreement. By the way, I have been given until 5:30 today to sign a lease which I have been negotiating since 1990. My reason for not signing this lease is because Bayside management has failed to make diligent and good faith efforts to meet its goal towards insuring the success of the Minority program. I am afraid that the lease they want me to sign is a total set up for failure. I have worked too hard to see it all go down the drain now. The Second thing i am requesting is that the City of Miami Commission order a review of Bayside's performance under the Minority Participation Agreement. To do this, I recommend that the City establish an overview committee to monitor the future implementation of the Agreement. The Third and final request I have is that the City renegotiate the Minority Participation Agreement to ensure that the Rouse Company makes diligent, good faith efforts to meet the goals of minority business development. 94- 602.1 j Page 5 - Panzegna - Bayside T-Shirts j i The situation of my company is a classic example of Bayside not living up to the overall agreement between the City and the Rouse Company. I have diligently tried to resolve my dispute with Bayside since 1990. Now, I believe that the entire Minority Program is at stake as well. The future rests in your hands and 1 urge you to take action today to begin the process of re-establishing the spirit and intent of the Minority Participation Agreement so that Black -owned and other minority businesses can succeed at Bayside along side the national chains. Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today. � I l i- t 94- 602.1