- 7 -
lease agreement with Peter and his wife, Carol T. Sleiman, dated
March 25, 1991. Peter and Carol Sleiman later assigned the
Blockbuster lease to TNE.
On September 4, 1991, TNE purchased property located on
Roosevelt Boulevard (the Roosevelt property) in Jacksonville,
Florida, as the site for the Blockbuster store. Like REE's Dunn
property, a gasoline station had been operated on the site in
prior years. As early as 1987, the State of Florida determined
that the Roosevelt property had been contaminated by the gasoline
station and thereafter designated the property as eligible to
participate in its Early Detection Incentive (EDI) environmental
cleanup program. The EDI program subsidized eligible property
owners to either clean up contaminated property with government
resources or to reimburse owners who paid for the clean up costs
themselves. Under the EDI program, the Roosevelt property's
prior owners had the gasoline tanks, distribution lines, and a
large amount of contaminated soil removed from the site. TNE
acquired the right to further participate in the EDI program when
it purchased the property.
TNE financed the purchase of the Roosevelt property and its
construction of the building thereon with loans from Peter's
related business entities. Although Peter could not recall at
trial where the funds came from, TNE's records show that it
received loans during 1991 from Duval Royal Investment, Inc. and
Brothers Five of Jacksonville, Ltd.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011