Why Tampa's plan to purchase historic Black cemetery backfired, and what's next to save it
Now the cemetery belongs to an investor who outbid the city in a foreclosure auction. The city says it made an offer to the new owner. It’s unclear if he'll accept.
Just one year after the city of Tampa announced it had taken over maintenance for Memorial Park Cemetery after its owner died, the century-old site was auctioned to an investor in a sale that lasted less than four minutes.
Now, the scramble to purchase the cemetery from a man who’s not yet willing to let go could cost the city tens of thousands of dollars. But perhaps the highest cost of it all: community trust.
Auction opens 10:00:04 a.m., Jan. 6, 2023
Just four seconds after 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, two of three bidders went back and forth in an online foreclosure auction, hoping to become the next owner of 2425 E. Martin Luther King in Tampa.
Twenty acres of land in a rapidly-developing city seemed like a goldmine.
The bids grew quickly: $12,900 at 10:01:20 a.m. Twenty-three seconds later, $15,900.
By three seconds after 10:04 a.m. The deal was done.
Alexis Arteaga of 2715 West Sligh LLC won with an $18,000 presale bid.
Just one problem: 2425 E. Martin Luther King is not just any parcel of land. It's a historic Black cemetery dating back to 1919 with at least 6,000 graves.
Community concerns "How does that happen?"
Aileen Henderson of The Cemetery Society had questions.
"What do you mean it went up for auction? How does that happen?" She asked.
Henderson was hoping to schedule a cleanup at Memorial Park Cemetery through the city of Tampa when a city worker told her in January she'd have to ask the new owner. Outraged, she reached out to 10 Investigates.
"My initial reaction was shock. What?" She recalled. "I didn't know it was up for sale. I didn't know they were looking for a new owner."
Henderson wasn't the only one frustrated.
"I want justice for the souls and the many families or loved ones that are buried in cemetery," said Norene Copeland Miller, whose mother, brother and other loved ones are resting in the cemetery.
"My grandfather, who was in World War II, he's buried here," she said.
Established in 1919 during Jim Crow rule, Memorial Park Cemetery buried Black Tampanians when white cemeteries refused.
But when the owner died in 2019, the cemetery's future became uncertain.
The city of Tampa took over maintenance for Memorial Park, keeping up with trim and adding fencing to some areas of the cemetery. Records show since 2019, the city has spent more than $197,000 on these efforts.
The mayor answers "Didn't imagine others would bid"
After the city took over maintenance for Memorial Park Cemetery, Mayor Jane Castor held a press conference announcing plans to make sure the site is protected. This came amid growing calls for more city action after discoveries of hundreds of graves from destroyed Black cemeteries across the area.
"The steps that we are taking are not going to right past wrongs, but what they are going to do is ensure that we do not have lost or abandoned cemeteries in the future," Castor said in January 2022. "This problem will not occur from this point forward."
For some, it's a broken promise.
"Where was the vetting system when you put this cemetery on that auction block?" Henderson asked.
To cover some of the costs of maintenance, Castor said the city placed liens on the property and foreclosed in an effort to take ownership after the owner's estate was not interested in deeding the property directly to the city.
"His heirs didn't want any part of that land," Castor said, "and that's when the city took it over. And we've been maintaining probably close to two years now."
Castor said foreclosure was the only viable path to city ownership.
But the plan backfired.
Records show the city and three others bid on the property. 10 Investigates reached out to them all. All of them said they were unaware the property was a cemetery.
10 Investigates created a profile on the county's foreclosure sale site to see how that might be possible. In the registered user view, the auction listing does not mention a cemetery. However, it does provide the address and a link to the property appraiser, where the cemetery is clearly labeled.
The clerk's office says properties are listed weeks in advance and it is the responsibility of the bidder to know what they are bidding on.
"They thought that it was developable land, so they didn't do their research," Castor said. "We're very confident that we're going to be able to take ownership of Memorial."
Some say it should have never gotten this far in the first place. The city placed a bid of $9,800 and appeared to not monitor the auction.
"We thought that that bid that we put in would cover the lien that was against it and didn't imagine that others would bid," Castor said.
When 10 Investigates asked why the city did not bid higher, Castor said, "We could have gone higher, clearly not knowing that there were other individuals bidding on that. But an assumption—and I know all mistakes are made by assumption—that...people would understand that that was a cemetery and there was no value in the private market."
However, it was just a few years ago that city council heard a proposal from a developer in Tampa looking to build townhomes just feet away from graves at Woodlawn and Showmen's rest cemeteries.
Next steps "My anger has now grown to the owner"
Florida law protects burials, but the past still makes some fearful for the future.
Over the last three years, archaeologists have found nearly 800 graves under apartments, schools and businesses from four segregation-era cemeteries erased or destroyed for redevelopment.
"Who's to say what they won't try to do this years from now when we're no longer here?" Copeland Miller asked.
It's a fear that's also coupled with frustration.
"My hope was [the new owner] would recognize what he had purchased. I'm not so sure that he did. I think he saw 20 acres," Henderson said. "I think he knew it was a cemetery. But I don't think he knew the significance of the cemetery.
"My anger now has grown to the owner because he has a responsibility to the city of Tampa as well, and to all of the citizens here, including the Black community and those families that have people buried here."
In a statement, the city said, "The new owner had 10 days to back out – and his real estate representative spoke to the city attorney's office about this being a protected cemetery – but he chose to go ahead and close on the purchase."
We spoke to owner Alexis Arteaga by phone, but he refused an on-camera interview. He said the city made an offer for roughly what he paid for the cemetery. But he says he's not sure he wants to sell. He first wants a third-party to appraise the property – even though its current assessed value is just $100.
"The city needs to make it right. They made a mistake," Henderson said. "They've admitted that they made a mistake. It doesn't matter what it costs to get it back."
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@10TampaBay.com. To read more about the search for lost African American burial grounds in the Tampa Bay area, head to wtsp.com/erased.