Atlanta’s SkyView Ferris wheel target of Florida tax lawsuit (Evans: 2015, lease)

[1lifealex]

6:33 p.m. June 23 by Christopher Seward / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It would take one heck of a repo man, but a tax collector in western Florida is suing to take possession of one of Atlanta’s newest attractions – the 20-story Skyview Ferris wheel.

In a suit filed in Fulton County Superior Court earlier this month, Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley asked that Fulton’s sheriff be ordered to “surrender” SkyView to the Florida county “for its retention and/or disposition.”
photo
Ben Gray

A Florida tax collector claims that Skyview’s operators failed to pay more than $350,000 in property taxes before it left Pensacola Beach for Atlanta two years ago.
Holley claims the Skyview’s operators failed to pay more than $350,000 in property taxes before it left Pensacola Beach for Atlanta two years ago.

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, Holley said she hopes the overdue taxes will be paid, laughing at the prospect of the county taking possession of a 200-foot Ferris wheel that has become part of the downtown Atlanta skyline.
“This is tangible personal property and when those taxes are unpaid, warrants are issued and a lien is placed on the equipment.” Holley said. “The next step is to seize the item and then you can sell it to settle the taxes.”
“I really would prefer they just pay their taxes,” Holley said.

A spokesman for Atlanta Partners LLC, which operates SkyView, called the suit “a vendetta.”
“Pensacola has always been angry that this wonderful icon left their city and came to Atlanta,” spokesman Jason Evans told Channel 2 Action News.
District 2 Councilman Kwanza Hall, reached late Tuesday, said he was “surprised” to hear of the controversy in Florida. Hall said he wanted to speak with both Atlanta Partners LLC, as well as the Florida tax assessor, to better understand the conflict.
“My experience with them has been that they have kept their word and done everything they said they were going to do. I’ve never heard of any other creditors or vendors, or anyone saying they owed them, not publicly to me. And I surely have watched them invest in a very short period of time, and reinvest, and expand quickly,” Hall said. “They’ve been stand-up in all the things they’ve done to date as far as their engagement with me and what I’ve seen in terms of investment and future plans.”
Hall said he hopes the conflict is resolved “in very short order” unless there is a disagreement about what taxes are potentially owed. “If it is at all true, we want to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed declined comment when reached late Tuesday.
SkyView opened near Centennial Olympic Park in summer 2013, operating under a contract between the city and Atlanta Partners and The Tabernacle Group. The Ferris wheel is on land owned by The Tabernacle that also encroaches on city-owned property.
The Ferris wheel is owned by a European company and leased to operators. It features 42 climate-controlled gondolas with leather seats and a glass floor.
The attraction originally operated in Paris, across from the Louvre art museum, before being moved to Bern, Switzerland, then to the United States. It was moved to Pensacola Beach to test the U.S. market before operators decided on a more permanent home - Atlanta.
In December, the Atlanta City Council extended the city’s contract with Atlanta Partners and The Tabernacle Group, allowing the companies to continue operating the attraction through 2015.
Escambia County appraises the Ferris wheel at $11.3 million based on a similar attraction in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The Florida suit claims Atlanta Partners and Expo 60 Ventures LLC, which previously operated the attraction in Pensacola Beach, Fla., have failed to satisfy the tax debt from 2013.
The suit says that while the Ferris wheel was in Pensacola Beach, Expo 60 failed to file a tax return for the 2013 calendar year by April 1 of that year.
“Expo 60 removed the Ferris Wheel from the State of Florida without paying the taxes it owed Plaintiff,” the lawsuit says. Removing the attraction from Florida is a misdemeanor crime punishable by a fine and jail time, the suit says.
Escambia County said Expo 60 eventually filed a tax return in May 2014 but put an incorrect date on the filing and it was rejected. In the meantime, the Expo 60’s lease on the wheel was transferred to Atlanta Partners, according to the county.
Holley said the county has repeatedly sent notices about the overdue taxes.
AJC staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this report.

[AfternoonCoffee]

Wow, I don't know a lot about the Ferris wheel (other than I like the way it looks when I pass by) but I had no idea it was so temporary!

[cwkimbro]

In other news Florida is suing the state of Georgia for existing....

I have a few issues.

Given the cost of or repossessing property like this, I think think that needs to be footed by Escambia County and not Fulton County. I mention this, because the cost could very well exceed what is owed. Unless it is merely seized from ownership/non-operation in Atlanta and then auctioned where it is in place for the highest bidder to take care of.


I'm curious what the law is on repo of leased property, as it isn't technically owned by Expo 60. Does anyone know?

[bryantm3]

from my understanding, if skyview was successful, they were going to build a much larger, permanent ferris wheel rather than the current rental, and send the one here back to pensacola (or on to another location).

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

from my understanding, if skyview was successful, they were going to build a much larger, permanent ferris wheel rather than the current rental, and send the one here back to pensacola (or on to another location).

Interesting.

I'm just curious if you know of any sources on this. I'm curious.

I wonder how large the ferris wheel can get on that property and not cause issues with nearby property owners, the city, and zoning.

[thebigATL]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Interesting.

I'm just curious if you know of any sources on this. I'm curious.

I wonder how large the ferris wheel can get on that property and not cause issues with nearby property owners, the city, and zoning.

I would love to have a 400-550ft tall ferris wheel here!

[0nyxStation]

Originally Posted by thebigATL

I would love to have a 400-550ft tall ferris wheel here!

I just saw the one Orlando has in their iDrive District. Its pretty large. I rode Skyview....it was ok.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

from my understanding, if skyview was successful, they were going to build a much larger, permanent ferris wheel rather than the current rental, and send the one here back to pensacola (or on to another location).

The manager used to come my old job all the time last summer and said something similar to that. I don't remember him saying it would be "much larger" though.

[1lifealex]

SaportaReport | here is a story from 2010 about an London eye for Atlanta

[Iconographer]

Was there no title search or title insurance issued during the execution of this purchase?