Store owner puts up a good front

A slow economy, a worn-out storefront and a big empty space worked to developer John Yo's advantage. He had talked about sprucing up his uncle's 22nd Street convenience store property, and suddenly he had the time.

Yo added a building, paved and striped the parking lot, built sidewalks and curbs and landscaped the site, planting trees and bushes in front and back of the property and adding mulch. An eye-catching yellow and blue façade creates the illusion of one building.

In the next few months Fat Boy's Beauty Supply will open in the new building. The convenience store at 3401 N. 22nd St. remains. And a renovated space on the other side of the convenience store, formerly a wig shop, soon could have a restaurant.

The remodeling job cost about $350,000.

"It's for a long-term investment," Yo said. "I don't think anyone would do it without thinking long term."

The long view of redevelopment has been the mantra of the city's East Tampa Redevelopment Office and the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership for nearly six years.

What Yo did to spruce up a business on the 22nd Street commercial corridor is exactly what the city wants to see. And although it won't help Yo on this project, a grant program to help businesses improve their facades could help him and other property owners in the future.

The program can provide up to $50,000 in matching money to pay for renovations to storefronts on certain roadways in the East Tampa, Drew Park and Ybor City "community redevelopment areas."

Yo, president of Airus Inc., said he has been asked about a couple of other locations and is interested. "That would give an incentive to do a project," he said.

There is $1 million available through the façade program, with $800,000 from East Tampa and $100,000 each from Drew Park and Ybor City. The money is from local property taxes collected within the redevelopment areas; the program will be administered by nonprofit Neighborhood Lending Partners.

The idea emerged from East Tampa discussions about how to help area businesses make their storefronts more attractive. It took nearly three years to launch the program.

Initially, less money was offered, and the program targeted only East Tampa. City officials said no person or agency appeared willing to administer the program until it was expanded to other redevelopment areas and the pool of money was increased.

The early response from businesses has been positive, said Ernest Coney Jr., chairman of the East Tampa partnership's economic development committee.

"What we want to do is spur economic growth and help businesses really identify themselves and give East Tampa a feel," Coney said. That distinct "feel" is something that people recognize about neighborhoods such as Ybor City and Hyde Park, which have pedestrian-friendly communities, he said.

"We've kind of left the commercial and businesses to lag," Coney said. "We want to bring the whole community, residential and commercial, up to par."

The renovated convenience store is across from the federally funded Belmont Heights Estates that replaced outdated public housing with modern, mixed-income apartments and houses.

"It's nice, especially considering the economy," said resident Michael Monroe as he walked to the convenience store.

His sentiments are echoed by others, though some have complained about the plaza's single entrance and exit. "They just haven't gotten used to it," said Benjamin Gilley, construction foreman for the plaza's renovations.

Although a stretch of 22nd linking East Tampa and Ybor City is due for a makeover, East Tampa redevelopment efforts also have focused on buying vacant land along the roadway to market for commercial development.

Construction on the 22nd Street redesign from 23rd Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is slated to begin next year. It will be funded largely through local property taxes and will feature landscaped medians, crosswalks, sidewalks and a roundabout in the area of 23rd and 21st Street.

"It's a whole big step up from what it was," said Gilley of the plaza's makeover. Other business owners "should want to do the same. It would be nice."

For information, contact the participating community redevelopment offices: East Tampa, (813)242-3807; Drew Park, (813) 274-7427; and Ybor City, (813) 274-7936.