Page 10 - 5-29-15 Friday's Edition

Business
Awardees Of Concessions At TIA To Be Announced Next Week
With more than a billion dollars in concession revenue at stake, several companies in- troduced bids to operate con- cessions at Tampa International Airport.
The airport is undergoing a $13.5 billion dollar overhaul that includes concessions. Bids were opened to any and all companies that met the crite- ria to operate at the airport.
TIA spokesperson Emily Nipps said the final hurdle will be the announcement on June 4th of who won the bids.
Going by a ranking system, the winners who will be vying for a spot at TIA are:
Package One: Host In- ternational, SSP America and TPA Hospitality Part- ners.
Package Two: SSP America, TPA Hospitality Partners, and HBF Tampa.
George Tinsley, CEO of Tinsley Bridgeman, currently owns and operates TGI-Fridays at TIA.
Deal Finalized For Sale Of Bright House Cable
Package Three: TPA Hospitality Partners, Host International and HBF Tampa.
Package Four: HBF Tampa, Tinsley-Bridge- man, and TPA Hospitality Partners.
Package Five: TPA Hos- pitality Partners, HBF Tampa, and Host Interna-
tional.
Package Six: Host In-
ternational, MCE-TPA, and SSP America.
Each package contains a series of different food and beverage businesses.
The only African American business to make the final se- ries was Tinsley-Bridge- man.
All that waits is approval from the Regulatory Board, and the deal for Charter Com- munications to purchase Time Warner and Bright House Cable will be finalized.
The merger with Bright House cost $10.4 billion, and the merger with Time Warner cost $55.3 billion.
With the acquisitions, Charter Communications will become one of the largest tele- vision and internet companies in the country.
The market was turned up- side down in February when Verizon announced it was sell- ing its Florida TV, Internet and landline phone business to Frontier Communications.
Charter officials said they will continue to operate Bright House’s 24-hour news opera- tions that include Bay News 9.
Some analysts have ques- tioned whether Connecticut- based Charter will have the
same commitment to local news as Bright House that serves about 2 million cus- tomers and employs about 6,000 people.
The combined companies will be called Charter Spectrum and make it the second-largest cable company in the nation with 24 million customers.
Bright House spokesperson Joe Durkin said everyone at Bright House is excited about the deal and think the best of all three companies will now be combined.
“Down the road, the power of the combined companies will increase the amount of services offered to customers. There will be new innovative features for customers and a continued effort to provide them with great service.
“Current customers will not be deprived of anything they have now. As a matter of fact, they will be getting more.”
Ashley Furniture Moving e-Commerce Headquarters To Ybor City
Last Thursday, Ashley Furniture Industries Incor- porated joined other busi- nesses when they announced
their plans to locate their global e-commerce head- quarters, a training center and other administrative to
Centro Ybor later this year. Beginning with 100 em- ployees, the company wants to attract customers and em- ployees from around the globe who will conduct busi- ness or training here, book hotel rooms and patronize
local businesses.
Ashley is the world’s top
furniture manufacturer and the top selling brand of furni- ture in North America. Its manufacturing operations are based in Wisconsin.
Others who have moved their corporate headquarters to Ybor City are Inspirata, Xcelience, ReliaQuest, FitLife Foods, Blue Pearl Vet- erinary Partners, Tribridge, and Laser Spine Institute.
The 70,000-square-foot complex in Centro Ybor will replace half of the Muvico Movie Theater, or 10 of the 20 screens inside the theater.
Many of the employees who will work in the U. S. e- commerce headquarters will be new hires and others were hired from the Tampa Bay area.
Lightning Owner To Begin Project In August
After negoti-
ating with the
Tampa Port Au-
thority on ac-
quiring the
Channelside
properties, then
later buying the
Marriott Water-
side Hotel,
Tampa Bay
Lighting owner
Jeff Vinik said
he is ready to
get started on This is an artists’ rendering of what Jeff Vinik’s his big redevel- project will look like.
opment project.
Vinik revealed his vision for downtown Tampa’s Channelside
area in December 2014, and now he’s announced the infrastructure part of the project will begin sometime in August of this year.
Vinik wants to connect existing assets like Channelside, Amalie Arena, and the convention center using 24-acres of land he’s ac- quired.
According to sources, the billion dollar project will have three million square feet of space, including three new office and hotel towers, a USF Medical School and Heart Institute, 500 residential units and 5,000 more parking spaces.
PAGE 10-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015