No Promises Made to Blue Bamboo

The nonprofit music venue did not receive the assurances it was seeking from the City Commission that there was room to renegotiate the lease for the old library building

June 25, 2026

By Beth Kassab

No clear resolution emerged Thursday from a contentious meeting over the future of the Blue Bamboo, which was seeking a rent reduction or some other accommodations from the city government to continue operating in the old library building.

But none of the five commissioners expressed support in the work session for changing the terms of the Blue Bamboo’s lease, though Commissioner Ingram suggested handing the lease to another arts organization that could perhaps sublease space to the nonprofit music venue.

At issue, is the Blue Bamboo’s ability to meet its lease obligation when the rent is scheduled to double in August without subleasing the second and third floors.

Blue Bamboo Director Jeff Flowers said no arts organizations can afford the necessary rent on those floors and that he’s also been hampered by construction delays. He said he wants the flexibility to divert from the original vision of transforming the building into an arts hub and, instead, potentially lease space to non-arts nonprofits or commercial businesses.

Mayor Sheila DeCiccio quickly countered that she’s heard from a number of arts groups and the problem is not that they can’t afford the rent, but that they can’t work with Flowers and other leadership at the Blue Bamboo.

“We have letters from people who said they could not deal with you,” DeCiccio said, noting that Flowers and Blue Bamboo Founder Chris Cortez dictated the amount of the rent and other terms and were made aware of issues in the building that would need to be addressed during construction.

“You came to the commission with the rent figures,” DeCiccio said to Flowers. “We didn’t fight you on that. You gave us those.”

Flowers said the assertion that other arts leaders were unable to work with him on lease terms is false.

But Theresa Smith-Levin stood up to talk about why Central Florida Vocal Arts walked away from dealing with the Blue Bamboo nearly a year ago after working with the organization for more than a year to secure the city lease as well as a grant from Orange County funded by hotel hotel tax money.

She said she was shocked to read in Flowers’ recent memo to the commission that CFVA “lacked the financial capacity” to meet the lease.

She pointed to her organization’s tax return that showed stronger financial growth and capacity than the Blue Bamboo.

Smith-Levin said her group had no problem assuming half the rent or about $11,000 per month.

What she said she was unwilling to do was accept what she called a “bait and switch” of terms such as restricting CFVA’s operating hours to only before 5 p.m. and capacity limitations. She said the terms were unworkable for an arts organization that relies on evenings to host rehearsals and provide lessons for students.

She said the terms were in “direct contradiction” to the conversations she had with Cortez, who died of brain cancer last year just months after she walked away from the deal.

Flowers said he was “misrepresented” and asserted their disagreement actually hinged on whether CFVA could rent out space to others.

At one point, Ingram — whose own background is as an opera singer — suggested Smith-Levin’s group could take over the main lease of the building and rent space back to the Blue Bamboo so that it would not lose its investment in construction on the building.

Commissioner Warren Lindsey asked Flowers if he had a Plan B if he were unable to continue to meet the terms of the lease.

Flowers offered that he did not want to lose his organization’s more than $2 million work on the building.

“First, the plan is let’s work together and come up with a plan that works for both of us,” he said.

A number of people from the community spoke in favor of the Blue Bamboo and the opportunities it provides for younger musicians as well as the paying gigs it provides professionals.

DeCiccio, the only commissioner who voted against the lease in 2024, suggested that perhaps Flowers could attempt to secure additional grant dollars that would allow the organization to move to its own building.

Lindsey echoed that point, saying he appreciated the venue’s contribution to the arts, but that the commission needed to protect its interest in a highly-visible building.

“We have to be good stewards,” he said. “It’s a city asset.”

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