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Village Revival To Be Delayed

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

Updated: 01/09/2008 12:22 am

TAMPA - The redevelopment of Central Park Village could be delayed by a year, officials said this week.

Work was scheduled to begin in March on infrastructure improvements to the 28-acre site between downtown Tampa and Ybor City.

The first two apartment buildings were expected to break ground by July. The first tenants were expected to start moving in by mid-to-late 2009. The entire project, which includes 12 new buildings, a refurbished public park and a black history museum, was to be completed by 2012.

The delay is due to financing setbacks and a pending Florida Supreme Court decision, said Leroy Moore, vice president of the Tampa Housing Authority, which is partnering on the project with Bank of America.

The timeline likely will be revised by nine to 12 months, he said.

"This is not a delayed project in terms of activity. It means our schedule is being pushed back," Moore said Monday. "Our plan is still to develop what we set out to develop."

The most-pressing setback involves the court's recent look at projects that hinge on tax-increment financing, a taxing structure associated with Community Redevelopment Areas that helps local governments pay for infrastructure needs, such as improving roads and sewer systems.

In September, the court unanimously ruled in Strand v. Escambia County that counties, school districts, municipalities and special districts must get voter approval before issuing debt backed by taxpayer dollars.

The justices held a rehearing on the case Oct. 9, and have yet to issue a final ruling.

The Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission designated 143 acres, including the housing property, as a Community Redevelopment Area in June 2006.

Roxanne Amoroso, Bank of America's senior vice president of community development banking, said the court's ruling is expected in February.

She said project officials are hopeful the final ruling will exempt CRAs, meaning that no public vote would be needed in order to allocate the funds, typically referred to as TIF dollars.

The project also failed last year to get funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corp. Money ran out before the authority's application could be considered, officials said.

Moore said the agency will reapply in hopes of securing financing for the $40.3 million Tempo, an eight-story, multifamily apartment building with a five-story parking garage, and the $27.8 million Ella, a 160-unit apartment building reserved for seniors 55 and up.

Both buildings include a mix of designated public housing, federally subsidized-Section 8 and market-rate apartments.

The project, which is being called Encore, and its buildings are named for the rich musical history associated with the former Central Avenue black business corridor. Artists and icons such as Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown stayed in the area when they came to Tampa to perform.

Officials want to create a mixed-use, mixed-income community that includes retail shopping, a grocery store and a possible hotel.

Housing officials began last year relocating about 483 families from Central Park Village, one of the oldest and largest public housing complexes in Tampa.

The agency paid to move each tenant and assisted them with finding new housing. The last families moved out in July, and demolition of the existing buildings began immediately.

Those families will have first choice to move back once new housing is available. So far, about 122 people have expressed interest, according to housing documents.

Amoroso said officials are currently talking to developers, both commercial and retail, about possible developments, including the grocery store.

"I am hopeful," Amoroso said. "We're moving on all fronts. The Strand case is certainly an impediment, but it's just another turn in the road."

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

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