The campus collects millions each week through fundraising and payments for expensive courses and high-level religious counseling not offered anywhere else. You are a fundamentalist Scientologist, or youre not one at all.. Scientologists deal with useful non-Scientologists quite often. It bought a hotel and wrote plans to take control of the city. He took over Bob Lees Auto to continue the business legacy and served on the Downtown Development Board for a decade. Osman Ozsan is of interest to us because he is connected to Rod Riley, a non-Scientologist realtor and real estate developer from Arizona. Instead, Epstein took the formal step of using an affidavit to deny that the Church of Scientology is not the client. Lee sold when Fischler upped her offer to $410,000 cash for the building valued at $109,000 by the property appraiser. GARCIA-NAVARRO: So the fact that the church is now buying up these properties through proxy organizations would maybe ring some alarm bells for the community because of what has happened in the past. That's the findings of a story in the Tampa Bay Times that's headlined clear takeover. Leading up to the waterfront, 22 of the first 33 buildings now have ties to Scientology. Most of the new owners have done little with their acquisitions. Unrestrained 5-year-old child falls out of truck, run over in Tampa, troopers say, Hundreds of USF students join statewide walkout to protest DeSantis education policies, Rays Shane McClanahan already hitting upper 90s nice to see, Estimates vary widely on cost to expand school vouchers in Florida, Food company A Good Human is opening a vegan cooking school in St. Petersburg, Bucs new coordinator is confident! They paid $26 million. City officials have long hoped for private investors to transform the North Marina Area, a 13-block district with undeveloped lots and 100-year-old bungalows overlooking Clearwater Harbor. According to court records, Andrus accompanied two guards as they handcuffed and gagged the man, dragged him into a car and drove him to a hideout, where he was held for a month before escaping. Graphics by ELI MURRAY Why does this matter? As a general rule, when someone makes an unsolicited statement, as Riley did by mentioning Mormons and Scientologists, it suggests to us hidden connections. The Church was unaware of the significant number of properties owned by Scientologists in the Clearwater area and are delighted you provided the information.. Rileys Clearwater Marina District development has a $350 million price tag on it. In January and February 2017, a handful of limited liability companies bought six prime downtown parcels. Lares and his wife, Emily, sold the diner inside a decade ago. The Tampa Bay Times discovered them by reviewing more than 1,000 deeds and business records, then interviewed more than 90 people to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the transactions. I mean, how big is the Church of Scientology where you are? About 72 percent of those properties are tax exempt for religious uses. Reached at their condo, his wife declined to comment. It has terrorized defectors with private investigators, smear campaigns and relentless litigation. The Scientology leader had offered the Clearwater Marine Aquarium $15 million for that 1.4-acre grass lot on Pierce Street. Yarbrough never learned the buyers identity. Its designed not for recruiting new members but for hosting established followers. Mike Rinder, who led Scientologys intelligence arm before defecting in 2007, said any property owned by a parishioner is in the churchs control. I think it throws a stake in it when one party owns 50 percent or so. City officials say their dedication to redeveloping the waterfront hasnt changed. The Church of Scientology, its members and companies controlled by its members have spent $103 million over the past three years buying retail property in downtown Clearwater, Fla., according to the Tampa Bay Times. Made an offer. Even city leaders said they didnt know the full extent of the purchases until they were shown maps created by the Times. The gallery does not include properties bought by companies run by church members. Those six lots were bought in November 2020 by a limited liability company then-managed by an employee of CA South, a Nashville-based real estate firm founded by Megan Epstein and advised by her husband, Stephen Epstein, both members of Scientology. He promoted the site to about 75 hoteliers and developers across the country. It is a big faux pas in business PR to bring up the subject of religion when it is absolutely unnecessary to do so. I saw a business opportunity, Ezra said. After the City Council voted to buy the lot in April 2017, Miscavige refused to talk to city officials for the next two and a half years. They didnt say what they were going to do with them, and I never asked, said Chesney, who works as the citys marine and aviation department director. 20, 2019. Scientologists living in Clearwater span the gamut of professional life . And half the sales were for more than double what the properties were valued by the county property appraiser, the Times found. Clarification made on CBRE and thank you for pointing that out. In January and February 2017, as the council was preparing to approve the consultants concept, a handful of companies bought six commercial properties downtown. Flag is run by the churchs full-time workforce, the Sea Org, whose members sign billion-year contracts and work around the clock. City leaders spent tens of millions improving streets, subsidizing residential projects and hiring consultants. I believe its irrational to buy property and not fully utilize it.. In 2016, city consultants began planning what has become a $64 million effort to reinvigorate the waterfront called Imagine Clearwater. Steven Epstein took the unusual step of preparing an affidavit to tell the Tampa Bay Times that his client was not the Church of Scientology. These are the companies and names on this list (put into alphabetical order, I also added what are probably the largest scientology owned businesses in the area KnowB4, NTC, Consumer Sales Solutions and Energy Professionals: Axiom Bahia Property Management (Raul Aleman) Blue Streak Docs (Sam Gendusa) Buzzazz Business Solutions (Keanan Kintzel) All five City Council members said they doubted the rash of purchases were unrelated. Suspicion swirled. The downtown and North Marina properties bought by limited liability companies managed or operated by members of Scientology remain on the tax rolls. MCMANUS: Yeah, that's a good question. But Scientologist-controlled companies are also sitting on at least 26 vacant lots and 31 empty storefronts and offices. This makes no sense, except of course to a bigot.. He wanted the council to stop trying to buy a vacant lot on which the church was also bidding. Council members were less delighted by the discovery, however especially since many of the lots and storefronts purchased by owners with Scientology ties are sitting vacant while the Clearwater City Council aims to turn the downtown waterfront into a dining and entertainment destination. Real estate agent Daphna Fischler, a Scientologist, called and showed up to the shop a handful of times in mid-2018. Clearwater is the permanent home to more than 10,000 Scientology parishioners. Internal church documents detailed missions that planted spies in the state attorneys office, the Chamber of Commerce and the Clearwater Sun newspaper. Aaron Smith-Levin, who left the world of Scientology after 29 years, is running to serve on the council in Clearwaterwhich has been home to the church's international spiritual headquarters. It also has to be someone who trusts the Epsteins enough to invest with them. Our opinion is that Riley was instructed to get ahead of the story by bringing up Scientology before he was asked about it. They now own most commercial property. Melitta coffee filters are manufactured in Clearwater, Florida. I would assume hes a Scientologist or involved with them in some fashion. Zano did not respond to questions about what his plans for the properties. Should we cut my sister out of the family inheritance? Its like they are trying to control the whole thing.. I mean, do they view it as helpful for the community at large to have a major religious organization centered in their town or not? But now these LLCs tied to Scientology control the retail district. Scientology leader David Miscavige had his own redevelopment plan. Reporters analyzed thousands of rows of data and pulled more than 1,000 records from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser, the Pinellas County Clerk of Court and the Florida Division of Corporations. More reaction: What Clearwaters City Council thinks about Scientologys downtown takeover, The full history: Scientologys 40 years of conflict with the City of Clearwater, recapped, Slideshow: See every building owned by the church, Scientologys 40 years of conflict with Clearwater, recapped, See a slideshow of all the churchs buildings. Pros. Tracey McManus is a Scientology reporter for the paper, and she joins us now. Nearly all of the roughly two dozen people listed as operating the companies are Scientologists. All 45 North Marina properties were purchased by companies managed or operated by two longtime members of Scientology: Steven Hayes, an attorney who has done legal work on behalf of church related organizations for more than two decades, and Norm Novitsky, a businessperson who has donated at least $5 million to Scientology. Norm Novitsky hung up when asked by a reporter about the companies plans. In both communities [comparing Mesa to Clearwater], there is a major presence of a church. Longtime City Manager Bill Horne said he cant tell whether the church wants the same thing. Project Normandy was described in one of hundreds of internal memos Scientology officials exchanged about their plans to infiltrate and control Clearwater. Indeed, Scientology used the name The United Churches of Florida to purchase the Fort Harrison in 1975 for $3 million in cash. The Times report describes spaces such as a former jewelry store, an empty Walgreens and a deserted laundromat sitting empty and unused. They posted guards wielding billy clubs and mace. Scientology leader David Miscavige told city officials the properties were part of the churchs proposed retail redevelopment plan. Andrus helped carry out a plan to stop a Scientologist who had spied on the federal government from turning himself in to the FBI. The pattern of Scientology-tied companies buying so many properties and sitting on them "flies in the face of most land economics," said Tobias, who has been appraising property in Pinellas County for 50 years. The origin story for the CB in CBRE does come from Coldwell Banker, but that was a very long time ago. Jim Huestler is the blocks only holdout with a rental home on the northeast corner. Scientology Fines OTs $100,000 if They Talk About Xenu or Body Thetans! A lot of them are vacant lots, vacant buildings, empty storefronts. Buy up as much property as they can for the church whether they use it or not, whether they let it sit there and rot so no one else can be there.. Scientologists annually contribute $87,867,000 to charitable endeavors, money that uplifts the quality of life in Clearwater. GARCIA-NAVARRO: What do you mean billion year contracts? Its important for me to communicate with the Scientologists in Clearwater and have that ability to work side-by-side, Riley said, also noting he is now based in Clearwater. Epstein could have simply told the reporter his client was not the Church of Scientology and left it at that. The Times described sales as cash transactions when they were paid without a mortgage filed in public records. Visitors are expected to stay in Scientologys hotels and eat at private church restaurants. If our work stats did not improve day to day . GARCIA-NAVARRO: So tell me about these land purchases. Most religions have a fundamentalist wing, Rinder said. Amazing Place to Work. Rice said hes been surprised that he has not been approached by brokers trying to buy his 10,000-square-foot building. Thats not happening with almost any of these properties., [ More reaction: What Clearwaters City Council thinks about Scientologys downtown takeover ]. "I do not want to be associated . Hayes, the attorney and parishioner involved in the rest of the North Marina purchases, was added as manager on the companies filings. There is nothing unnatural about Scientologists wanting to live in the same city that houses the international spiritual headquarters of their church, said a letter signed by Scientology attorney Gary Soter. On Sept. 7, Epsteins employee was removed from the corporate filings of the company that own the land. Fifty-three of those are for properties owned by companies run by himself with fellow Scientologist Emrani, a candidate in this election. Do you own your house? 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