Gunster Attorneys, U.S. Sugar Win; Florida Taxpayers and Everglades Lose

Taxpayers, better sit down. This one is going to hurt.

Three Gunster attorneys, Daniel M. Mackler, Danielle DeVito-Huley and Rick Burgess, were just named South Florida Business Journals 2011 Heavy Hitters in Commercial Real Estate. And the Daily Business Review has made them finalists for the Top Dealmakers of the Year award. It's a very big deal, and I'd like to congratulate them, I really would.

But these three Heavy Hitters hit you and me.

They're being recognized for negotiating and closing what Gunster calls "one of the most significant land acquisitions by the State of Florida to date." I can't argue with that. You see, our award winners represented the United States Sugar Corporation (U.S. Sugar Corp.). Under the leadership of former Gov. and chief cheerleader for the deal Charlie Crist, the three brokered and rebrokered and re-rebrokered a deal for 26,800 acres made up of two unconnected parcels of citrus land and canefield, transferring ownership from U.S. Sugar to the South Florida Water Management District for $197,398,372.08.

This landmark rip ... uh ... sale took nearly three years to negotiate and close and it left the district broke. Yes, pretty much flat broke. Nevertheless, Gunster enthuses, "... It involved extensive negotiations, environmental analysis, contract preparation, and title review."

Sure did. Luckily our award winners were dealing with a board full of Charlie-Crist-appointed members, all of whom found a way before every meeting to leave their thinking caps at the door. These guys and gals were pushovers, every one.

Now look. Everglades restoration? Don't be silly. Not a single reed or drop of water or creature that lives in the River of Grass is likely to see benefit from this deal for more than a decade -- maybe long after that. No significant work can start without money. The two parcels our winners re-rebrokered? Involved in a lease. For now anyway, the district is leasing 18,000 acres of the land to somebody, anybody, because there's nothing that can be done with it.

U.S. Sugar Corp. won. Three Gunster attorneys won. But 19 million Floridians lost a lot of money and more important, the Florida Everglades lost a lot of precious time.
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