Forbidden City

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Central Florida sold one of the three buildings they own to help reduce their debt.

The Forbidden City building at 948 N Mills Ave was sold to JAI Investments.

Bungalower spoke to the owners of Forbidden City who said they have talked with the new owners. They assured us that the lease transferred over and the restaurant will stay open at that location.

The Center also owns the building they occupy at 946 N Mills and the building to the south, 942 N Mills Ave.

Here’s the complete press release from The Center:

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Central Florida (The Center) announces the sale of the adjoining property currently occupied by Forbidden City.

This transaction is the culmination of the Board of Directors of The Center taking a pro-active role to reduce the debt service, resulting in The Center being on a strong financial foundation for the first time in over a decade.

Timothy Vargas, President of the Board of Directors, issued the following statement:

“Today’s property sale and substantial pay down of our mortgage debt is the culmination of many months of sustained focus toward bringing financial stability to The Center.  Over the past 15 months, we have managed the finances with laser like focus, and as a result, we have paid off over $310,000 in debt.  What this means financially for The Center cannot be overstated.  For the first time in 10 years, The Center’s debt burden has been reduced to a reasonable level given the size of our organization.  Even after the sale of the Forbidden City property, The Center retains ownership of our other two Mills 50 properties which gives us significant flexibility as we steer the organization through the next 10 years.  By dramatically reducing the debt burden, our donors can now rest assured that funds are used for programs that serve the community, and not for debt service.”

This reduction of debt allows The Center to concentrate on extending existing programs such as support services and counseling  and transgender individuals, to implement new services for seniors, women, and minorities, and to become more involved in domestic violence prevention in our community.

For many years financial limitations prevented The Center from being a true Community Center for many of our diverse members in Central Florida.

This sale, while not completely paying off all debts, allows The Center to earmark donated funds for the expansion of such programs.

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

Have something to say? Type it below. Holding back can give you pimples.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Great for the center, hopefully a new restaurant to come in soon….not only is the food blah here but the building needs a complete gut (save the cool canopy)…hopefully the new owners are smart and reserved enough capital to make this little spot into something….would love to see something like what black bean deli did to vegas…