By SHANNON BEHNKEN
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - The lawsuit filed by two disgruntled condominium buyers at Trump Tower Tampa is moving forward.

Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge James M. Barton II this morning denied the developers’ motion to dismiss the suit. The developers named in the suit, SimDag LLC and Orlando private-equity firm Mirabilis Ventures Inc., have 15 days to file an answer to the complaint.

The Trump condominium buyers, Louis Ricci and Joe Shultz, both of Walton County, near Pensacola, say in the suit that it’s now impossible for developers to finish the tower by the Dec. 2008 completion date specified in their contracts. The buyers want their deposits back.

They also say they were misled about the role of celebrity real estate developer Donald Trump in the project. Trump has a licensing agreement with developers to use his name for the tower but has no ownership in the project and limited involvement in construction.

Trump Tower Tampa was announced with great fanfare two years ago but has yet to go vertical and remains without financing. Developers are in negotiations with a New York hedge fund to provide financing.

There’s been no construction at the downtown riverfront-site since November.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .

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