A building at Tampa International Airport that was temporarily spared from a controversial demolition apparently won't fetch the rent airport officials were led to believe.

The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority endorsed plans this month to tear down the old Continental Airlines reservation center. Executive director Louis Miller delayed the demolition when an authority board member said Moffitt Cancer Center might rent the building for more than $600,000 a year.

This week, Moffitt offered half as much: $300,000 for the first year of a 20-year lease, with 1.5 percent annual increases thereafter. The authority countered Friday with an offer of $472,000 to $522,000 per year.

Board member Steve Burton cast the only vote Jan. 7 against tearing down the two-story building.

Three days later, Burton sent an e-mail to the authority's legal counsel saying that a commercial office broker contacted him on behalf of a client willing to rent the building for over $600,000 annually for 10 years.

Continental, the previous client, had paid about $464,000 a year.

A Moffitt spokeswoman said Chad Rupp, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, told Burton the property was worth $400,000 to $600,000. "We never said we'd pay $600,000,'' said Michelle Foley, the spokeswoman. Moffitt is considering several properties, she said.