School for strippers exposed by loud parties, forced to close
TAMPA, Fla. - The owner of a $2 million mansion on Florida's Gulf Coast might have continued operating a training school for strippers next door to an exclusive gated community -- if not for the boisterous parties that blew his cover.
The Tampa Tribune reports the all-night, liquor-fueled celebrations, complete with booming stereos and screaming women, drew complaints from neighbors.
The mansion's owner and manager were hit with five code violations, some for holding special events in an agricultural/residential zone and some for operating special events without conditional use approval.
Sean Grey, a manager at the mansion-for-rent, was also accused by the sheriff's office of violating the county's noise ordinance, a misdemeanor, although on Monday, a circuit judge dismissed that charge.
On Thursday, representatives from Code Enforcement and the sheriff's office will meet with County Commissioner Kevin Beckner to discuss whether further action is necessary.
"If they had flown under the radar, they'd still be in business," said Hillsborough sheriff's deputy Phil Acaba, who investigated the events at the mansion. "The noise was the issue that brought their downfall."
The owner of the school billed it as an agency for "top earning exotic dancers and models."
The mansion is owned by Pink Tati LLC, but the principal owner is Canadian millionaire Gordon Lownds. In an interview Monday, Lownds told the Tribune he has ceased all commercial activity at the 12,000-square-foot house, shutting down its modeling school for exotic dancers.
Lownds bought the mansion in April 2013 for $2 million. He said he and some partners planned to film a reality show there about the day-to-day lives of strippers.
Lownds remodeled the mansion in lush, Egyptian-themed decor, and advertised it as "Pharaoh's Palace." Internet ads said the mansion was available for rent to "event planners, professional photographers, music video producers, and television and film producers. ..."
The manager, Grey, and Nicholas Worlds, a former investor in several adult-themed businesses, ran Pharaoh's Daughters modeling agency out of the mansion. According to the Pharaoh's Daughters website, the company provides "coaching and ongoing employment to promising young strippers."
"We are aware of what we are allowed to do and not do," said the principal owner, Lownds. "We are conforming with all the zoning requirements."
And apparently, it's a no stripping zone.