Xentury City Denies Allegations of bin Laden Ties

ORLANDO-After 11 days of silence, Xentury City Development Co., Osceola County’s first choice to build a $100 million, 500,000-sf convention center near Walt Disney World, is responding to an eight-page report being circulated by a labor union that implies Osama bin Laden is associated financially with the Saudi Arabian corporate owners of Xentury City.

The controversy has raised questions about the innuendoes in metro Orlando’s commercial real estate and construction industries. Osceola County Attorney Jo Thacker is investigating the information from the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 362 and is scheduled to make a public report of her findings Nov. 11.

In a prepared statement, Susan Lawrence, Xentury City’s vice president of marketing, denies the union’s allegations. “Neither the Xentury City project nor any of its owners or related companies have any connection whatsoever to terrorism, in any form,” the statement says. “In particular, they have no connection to the Sept. 11 tragedy, as has been alleged by activists representing the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.”