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City May Purchase Wachovia Building

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - Last December, city officials bounced around an idea to relieve crowding at city hall while spurring downtown development: Buy the old Fifth Avenue Wachovia bank building and turn it into municipal office space.

Then the property tax cutbacks hit. The proposal was put on the back burner.

This week, the city revisited the idea. At Monday night's city council meeting, City Manager Steve Spina was given the OK to pursue the purchase.

"I think that Wachovia building is probably the most crucial real estate investment we could ever make," City Councilman Luis Lopez said.
City officials are unsure of the asking price. Last year, it was $1.4 million.

The city would renovate the building and turn it into a new city hall or a library.

With either scenario, the purchase could significantly alter the landscape of the aging downtown district.

"We have the employees and traffic that would maybe generate some shopping and lunch traffic," Spina said Tuesday. "I think that's part of the success of downtown Dade City, the courthouse people."

Spina conceded city hall sits only two blocks from Fifth Avenue, the main street that runs through the historic downtown. Although sidewalks link it to Fifth Avenue, foot traffic from city employees and those who pay their bills at city hall hasn't necessarily boosted downtown's commercial prospects.

If the new city hall or library were in the middle of downtown, though, that could make a difference, he said.

"A lot of times people will come here in a car, get in the car and drive off," he said. "If they park next to, say, Manolo's, they might go in and have lunch."

The bank was built in 1973, has two stories with an elevator and is assessed at $721,661, according to property records.

City hall has 20,000 square feet of space, but much of it is underutilized. The building has wide hallways and a 3,500-square-foot city council chamber that is used only a few times a month. More than half of the building's space - about 13,000 square feet - is poorly used, Spina said.

The bank building offers a bit more than 9,000 square feet, all of which is usable, Spina said. The building also sits on the same block as the city's oldest fire station. That could present expansion opportunities if city officials decide to move the fire station to the south end of town, as has been discussed.

"We talk about all this. The first step is Wachovia," Councilman Danny Burgess said. "It's still available. It's still available for a reason, and we need to jump on it."

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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