It Sounds pretty cool. A few dozen classy apartments a la mode, perched atop a working retail center and downtown market, why, it’s almost ... metropolitan. Hence Dick Greco’s smiles and support when the Doran Jason Co. proposed its development plans for the Kress Block downtown.

Greco asked Tampa City Council to give the go-ahead on an application for $15 million in guaranteed loan funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, about $4 million of which would be allocated to Doran Jason, a Miami-based real estate developer, for use in the renovation and restoration of existing buildings near Franklin Street Mall.

Plans for the Kress block project include about 70 upscale apartments set above a retail shopping area across from the new federal courthouse.

Another $6.5 million of the HUD-backed loan are slated for a 1,500-space downtown parking garage that Doran Jason would also build. The remaining $4.5 million are targeted for an extended-stay hotel project presently in the early planning stage. According to the Kress Block feasibility study, Doran Jason Co. states that it will secure $6.5 million in first mortgage debt and contribute $3.25 million in equity funds.

The plan must meet with City Council approval before city officials can apply for the low-interest HUD loans. A final hearing is scheduled for April 10.

Greco gave his endorsement, saying that even though future loans to the city would be jeopardized if the developments fail (future block grants would be used to secure the loans), he feels confident the private developers will make good on the money.

Raymond Buckner, president of Channelside Market Inc. (d.b.a. Franklin Street Market), Doran Jason's current manager of the Franklin Street property, isn’t so sure. Neither is Sue Smith, Channelside Market executive director.

I’m a big believer in downtown revitalization, but I also believe that if this project receives the endorsement of the city, and the project fails, taxpayer confidence in Tampa’s City Council will not recover in my lifetime,"said Smith at last week’s hearing. "Let’s revamp downtown, but let’s not have another (Florida) Aquarium debacle. If you need a parking garage, build a parking garage, but for the sake of Tampa’s taxpayers, don’t tie it to this project."

Doran Jason, Doran Jason co.’s president and namesake, has been in the real estate business close to 35 years. Throughout the 1980s, he was quite active in the business, social and political scene in Miami. In March 1991, Doran Jason, the man, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Not included in the bankruptcy, thanks to a deal with the lender, was Brickell Plaza, a Miami commercial property owned by Jason and housing his offices. One month later, in April 1991, that property was foreclosed upon. In 1990 and 1991, five separate final judgments were recorded against Doran Jason totaling nearly $1 million.

In September 1994, a different lender, Travelers, foreclosed on another of Jason’s Miami properties, Doral Financial Plaza, and received a $19 million foreclosure judgment. Jason blamed his inability to pay in part on the fact that at the time he was paying $9,100 a month in back taxes on the property. Doral Financial Plaza was saved from the auction block by a $20 million refinancing with California Mortgage Co., on which Jason also defaulted.

In November 1996, Jason’s failure to make payments and pay taxes won California Mortgage Company a $17.3 million foreclosure judgment against Jason.

"Those transactions are involving my father, so he’s who you need to speak with," Jeanette Jason, of the Doran Jason Group of Tampa, told the Weekly Planet. "But I can tell you in at least one of them he was the minority partner. I can also tell you that (Doran Jason) has been in the business for 35 years, and anyone who’s in the real estate business knows there’s going to be ups and downs."

Doran Jason could not be reached for comment.

Smith brought up Doran Jason’s history at a March 27 City Council hearing. It was the first time council members had heard anything of it, according to Councilman Rudy Fernandez.

"At this time, allegations have been made regarding Doran Jason Group," says Fernandez, chairman of the city’s finance committee. "We certainly want to look very cautiously at those allegations to determine what is the real story."

The downtown market began as what seemed a win-win deal for both Jason and Smith. In August 1996, the Tampa Downtown Partnership introduced Smith to Jeanette Jason of the Doran Jason Group, who needed a tenant for the first floor of the boarded-up Woolworth’s building. Last December, the Doran Jason Co. entered a management agreement with Channelside Market Inc., of which Smith and Buckner (who are husband and wife) are officials. According to the agreement, Channelside Market, a non-profit revitalization project dedicated to supporting the arts, would act as agent and management entity for the Woolworth’s building and operate a farmer’s/antiques/arts and crafts market. The term of the agreement was one year, with an out-clause for either party provided 90 days written notice was given. Doran Jason was to pay Market operating monthly expenses out of gross receipts, including a $3,000 a month fee to Smith. The agreement also stated that Doran Jason Co. would pay monthly building operating expenses.

Smith and Buckner say it hasn’t happened. They say the market had no budget for building repairs, upgrading electrical systems or repairing plumbing. They claim they provided the Franklin Street Market project with seed money from their personal accounts on Jason’s promise they would be reimbursed. Smith and Buckner maintain they have turned in receipts for over $21,000, dating back to May 1996, and still have not been paid. In addition, Smith says she has not been compensated for the work she did in February as the market’s executive director, due March 15.

Franklin Street Market officials say the final blow came on March 14, the day they received a letter from Jeanette Jason terminating their lease agreement. The reason cited by Jason was that Smith had not cooperated in the opening of a joint back account, and further that she had closed and re-opened operating accounts without necessary authorization.

Jeanette Jason says her concern is over expenses. "Since (Franklin Street Market) started in December they were supposed to be informing us of income and expenses,’ she says. "But until they were given termination, they never gave us anything - which is odd, because everything, per the agreement was required to be preapproved."

Smith denies those allegations. Smith and Buckner, upon receipt of the termination, requested in writing payment on all that was owed to them. They didn’t receive it, and say they are now forced to take legal action.