gulf breeze news 10 23 14 mat pellegrino
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Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 2AClassifieds . . . . . . . . . 7CHomecoming . . .5A, .5C, .8CCrossword .Puzzle . . . 3BArrests .and .DUIs . . . . 2A
October 23, 2014 YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 75¢
Mailing Statement on Opinion Page
THREE SECTIONS, 20 PAGES
VOL. 13, NO. 43OCTOBER 23, 2014
GULF BREEZE NEWS (850) 932-8986 www.gulfbreezenews.com
FRI 10/24 SUNNY
hi 77/lo 58 rain: 0%
SAT 10/25SUNNY
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SUN 10/26SUNNY
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WEEKEND Weather-plus
Questions surround saleReal Estate website changes listing for The Club II amid investigation
A Fort Lauderdale broker continues to refuse that he was working to help sell The Club II fitness facility, despite the fact that websites advertising the facility itself for sale were taken off- line or manipulated after the broker was questioned about the advertisement.
In the late afternoon on October 14, Gulf Breeze News was tipped off that several real estate websites were adver-tising The Club II facility for sale for $5.95 million. Upon finding the websites, Gulf Breeze News contacted the broker, JM Padron, whose name was listed on the advertisement. The broker denied the facility itself was for sale, despite the fact that the advertisement stated that the building and the land it was on was for
sale. He also asked Gulf Breeze News to sign a confidentiality agreement before answering further questions on the listing
Minutes before Gulf Breeze News went to press on October 14, the broker sent an email attaching a link to the same website that previously claimed the building was for sale. The link brought the reporter to the same website, but this time the website claimed the sale had been “taken off of the market”. A
notification on the website indicated that the website was changed that day.
The morning of October 15, the web-site had again changed with updated pho-tos of only the soccer field and parcel of land that the broker claimed was for sale, and the title had changed to “Commer-cial Land to Develop”. The price was also changed to $1.45 million.
Oil spill payouts top $18 millionSome claims have yet to be paid
Man gets life for molesting GB 8-year-old
Msgr. Huntgraces area with 30 years
BY MAT PELLEGRINOGulf Breeze News
A man who moved to Florida because he claimed there were no women in Texas was will spend the rest of his life beyond bars for molest-ing an 8-year-old Gulf Breeze girl.
State Attorney Bill Eddins made the an-nouncement of Circuit Judge John Miller’s de-cision last week after the Miller sentenced the man, John David Thomas, Jr., to life without the possibility of parole.
Thomas, 35, had previously been convicted on May 7 on the charges of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation.
According to Thomas’ See Report Page 2A »
BY MAT PELLEGRINOGulf Breeze News
[email protected] inside
See screen captures of the original online
listing, and of the changed online listing
inside, 4A.
BY MELANIE KORMONDYGulf Breeze News
Photo by Jason Thompson | Gulf Breeze News
Jordan Signor reacts after finding out she was crowned the Gulf Breeze High School 2014 Homecoming Queen. Signor was crowned at half time at the GBHS homecoming football game against West Florida Tech. Standing next to her is her father, John. See more photos online, or inside this edition.
See Ad Page 4A »
He is adored by his congregation and is a rock star of his own kind through-out the community. He holds the title of “Monsignor,” but people of all reli-gions, creeds, and status respect and ad-mire him.
This year Msgr. Luke Hunt is cel-ebrating 30 years of being the pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church, and the things he has accomplished during those years are sure to stay in the hearts and hold a positive effect on the community for a lifetime.
He began his journey in his home of County Carlow, Ireland, where he fin-ished college and decided to join the seminary.
“When I finished college I said I’ll have to get this out of my system and see what happens,” said Msgr. Hunt. “So I went to the seminary to see what would happen and was ordained in 1967.”
Shortly after being ordained, Msgr.
See Hunt Page 3A »
Msgr. Hunt
BY PAM BRANNONGulf Breeze News
There is still time for Florida Panhandle businesses and individuals to make a claim against BP (British Petroleum) for losses dur-ing the 2010 oil spill.
The final appeal for BP in their Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill court case is in the U.S. Su-preme Court. Thomas Young, P.A. of Tampa, who handles only claims against the company for the oil spill, said the Supreme Court will probably de-cide within See Oil Page 3A »
Pensacola Beach Elementary School
FALL FESTIVALPlease
Come Out and Support Our School!Proceeds toBenefi t PBE!Thursday, October 30th 5-8 pm
Beach School Parking Lot
An evening of fun for the whole family!
Silent Auction & Raffl eCostume ContestFood & DrinksCake Walk
Bounce HousesHaunted HouseBalloon AnimalsFace Painting
Before calling Padron on October 14, photos of the in-side of the facility, including equipment were advertised on the website as part of the sale (and on other Real Estate websites). The website also listed the square footage of the building and the amenities of the building. on October 15, the website was changed to only show photos of a par-cel of land for sale. All of the exterior and interior photos of The Club II building were re-moved from the website after Gulf Breeze News questioned the ad on October 14.
After finding the advertise-ment for the sale of the facil-ity itself in the late afternoon on October 14, Gulf Breeze News was able to get in con-tact with Dr. Paul Henning, the owner of The Club II. He confirmed that he knew the site was advertising the build-ing itself (falsely), but that it was used to entice buyers to call the Re/Max agent who is handling the sale, who would then notify the caller that the building itself was not for sale, but only a small parcel of land that touched Highway 98.
Padron denied that he had the building itself for sale on the web page, despite the fact that the website changed its photos and status of the sale within a matter of hours. On October 15, the website showed that the ad had been changed “today” (Oct. 15), and photos of only the soc-cer field were present, and the price on the sale had changed as well. When Gulf Breeze News first stumbled across the website when it was ad-vertising the building for sale, the ad had not been changed in “23 days” according to the website.
David Valletto with Beck Properties told Gulf Breeze News that falsely advertising property is not taken lightly in the Real Estate industry.
“Since I do not know all the facts I would not want to speculate, but I can say that misrepresentation is a charge that can be made against a re-altor,” Valletto said. “It is OK for the seller to reference the neighboring properties and even its amenities.”
Valletto told Gulf Breeze News that he wasn’t familiar with the listing, and could not personally speak on Padron’s behalf regarding the property in question.
“It sure looks like Mr. Pa-dron had it on the market. It even says ‘Business for Sale’,” Valletto said upon viewing the original ad. “Somebody should have made it clear that it was for the land only that is adjacent to The Club II.”
Gulf Breeze News reached out to Re/Max Senior Public Relations Specialists Hilary Nixon and Jason Lindaman at their corporate office, but both public relations agents refused to comment on the posting made by Padron.
Several of the websites that posted the building itself for sale were also taken down by the end of last week, shortly after Gulf Breeze News made the findings.
Henning told Gulf Breeze News last Tuesday that the photos posted on the Real Es-tate websites were there to en-tice people to look at the front parcel, even though there were several interior photos of the building on the advertisement before it was manipulated Tuesday evening.
The original ad on the Re-altor website read:
4A October 23, 2014 GULF BREEZE NEWS
GULF BREEZE NEWS (850) 932-8986 www.gulfbreezenews.com
This online ad was updated (see "last updated") on Wednesday, a day after Gulf Breeze News questioned the original listing which showcased photos of the inside of the facility, the outside of the building and of the amenities, and listed the building itself for sale. Wednesday the ad was changed to "Commercial Land to Develop" and only showed photos of the soccer fi elds, which is part of the land that the owner claims is for sale.
Ad changed overnight to say 'Commercial Land to Develop'
This screen capture taken last Friday, shows another web-site that is still advertising the facility itself for sale, and the broker handling the sale.
This screen capture shows 'Business for Sale' and also lists the square footage of the building. This was one of the original listings, among other website listings, that claimed the price of the property was $5.95 million.
This screen capture shows one of the original sites advertising the building for sale for $5.95 million.
» Continued from Page 1A
It sure looks like Mr. Padron had it on the market. It even says ‘Business for Sale’. Somebody should have made it
clear that it was for the land only that is adjacent to The Club II.
– David VallettoBeck Properties
“The Club at 1230 Crane Cove Boulevard is a 35,898+/- Square Foot, heat-ed and cooled fitness and re-habilitation building located at: 1230 Crane Cove Boule-vard, Gulf Breeze, FL, (Santa Rosa County). The building is located on Parcel number 31-2S-28-0000-01801-0000. The site is indicated to be a 7.14 acre parcel, and is other-wise improved with an indoor heated competition pool, an outdoor Olympic competi-tion pool, a complete Gym, a 6,500 rehabilitation clinic and 8 clay tennis courts. In addi-tion there is a vacant commer-cial corner site with approxi-mately 300’ of frontage along Crane Cove Blvd.”
The Club II later sent out a mass email to a number of its customers claiming the in-formation Henning told Gulf Breeze News was not true.
“The local newspaper has distributed misinformation regarding the sale of the Club. The front parcel/soccer field is for sale, not the Club facil-ity,” the email read.
In the email, the sender in-cluded a link to the advertise-ment that had been manipulat-ed to show only the land was for sale. Gulf Breeze News took photos of the original listings on Tuesday before they were changed.
“Nowadays, you have to show what’s adjacent to the property (to sell),” Henning told Gulf Breeze News on deadline on October 14 after admitting to a reporter that he knew the building wasn’t for sale despite the fact it was be-ing advertised as such online.
Not only did the photos on the website change after Gulf Breeze News made the find-ing, but also the price of the piece of property.
The price dropped from $5.95 million to $1.45 mil-lion. A lot adjacent to the ad-vertised soccer fields in front of Breeze Cinema 8 recently sold in January for $61,000.
Holding pondAfter the ad was changed
to suggest only frontage along Highway 98 was for sale, Gulf Breeze News found out that the property that is currently shown “for sale” is actually a holding pond for The Club II.
County Engineer Roger Blaylock said that although it is a holding pond (that is be-ing advertised for sale), a de-veloper can build on the prop-erty — but with stipulations.
“The Club II is probably going to have a commercial site plan approval versus a subdivision. Hypothetically, could they be sold? Could they be developed? Yes, but they would have to provide the same purpose and usage and capacity as they do to-
day,” Blaylock said. “Further-more, if a development were to develop there, they would have to increase development capacity (of the holding pond) to adhere to anything built on the property.”
Blaylock said that in order to adhere to state and local guidelines, The Club II owner would have to make sure that anyone looking to develop the land understands that if they build on the property, they
have to expand the holding pond to adhere to regulations.
“You still have to meet the intent of the original site plan by providing water quality and quantity volumes, as well as mitigate any impact for
new development,” Blaylock said.
Padron and Henning were both contacted again after the listing was changed, but both men refused to comment on the matter.