FloridaFuture
July 14th, 2007, 05:32 PM
A Hub Of Activity
By JANIS D. FROELICH, The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 14, 2007
DOWNTOWN - In its heyday from the 1920s to the 1940s, the building at 719 N. Franklin St. was a beehive of activity.
There was a Walgreen Drugs on the ground floor, and upstairs there was a dentist office, technical school and dance studio. In 1926, the Tampa Theatre became the next-door neighbor; the block bustling with shoppers and matineegoers.
The building's new owners hope for a similar coming alive in a part of downtown neglected for years.
Architect David Bailey and investment broker Camille Renshaw have three tenants and seek more for the two-story building, which had three stories until a fire in the 1940s.
'The top floor just fell in,' Bailey said. 'It was common back then to still save the building.'
The current tenants are: The Hub Bar and package store, 719 N. Franklin St.; Bill's Pen Shop, 305 E. Polk St.; and Thai Corner Restaurant, 713 N. Franklin St.
Bailey and Renshaw, residents of Ybor City, have about 7,000 square feet to rent upstairs. Since paying about $1.4 million for the property early this year, they have spent time cleaning out the space. They also signed The Hub to a 10-year lease.
'We're very happy with our present tenants,' Renshaw said. 'And we plan to be very picky about what new ones come in.'
Renshaw, who's moving into the restored Box Factory Lofts in Ybor City, said she and Bailey also want to consider which businesses would complement The Element residential high-rise being built across the street, as well as downtown's revitalization in general. They would like an art-associated enterprise to move in but are looking for the right fit.
'Realistically, people don't lease more than 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, so we'll probably have several tenants up here,' Renshaw said during a tour of the front office, which features 14 tall windows.
Bailey said the building's origin can't be pinpointed. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's office lists the building as getting a kitchen in the 1940s. That's when McCrory's five-and-dime store was housed there, Bailey said.
'This area was a center of activity,' said Rodney Kite-Powell, curator of the Tampa Bay History Center. 'Certainly, for the north end of downtown, this is where people went.'
Kite-Powell said the three-story structure appears on the 1903 Sanborn map, which showed Tampa's early grid street pattern, but not on the 1899 map.
'My guess is that the building went in around the turn of the century,' he said.
He believes the portion of the building closest to Tampa Theatre was erected first, followed by the portion at Franklin and Polk.
'The building is rock solid,' Renshaw said of the concrete and steel structure.
Everything works upstairs, including the elevator, but Renshaw and Bailey said they will need to update the four sets of bathrooms.
'There were probably so many because this was open during a time of segregation,' Renshaw said.
'The place is filled with 1940s plumbing,' said Bailey, who once was a partner in the former Bustillo Bros. & Diaz cigar factory, 2111 N. Albany Ave., which was converted to offices.
The building holds other remnants of the past.
Bailey showed a locked closet that served as a cooler for prescription drugs.
'There's a humidity gauge in there,' he said.
By the breaker box, there's a dumbwaiter. Plus, Bailey said they found a meat slicer and ice maker from when McCrory's had a lunch counter, and a typewriter, prescription pad and receipts from the Walgreen's era.
'This is a key historical building,' Renshaw said. 'We want to give it the love and care it deserves.'
Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.
http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/14/st-a-hub-of-activity/?news
By JANIS D. FROELICH, The Tampa Tribune
Published: July 14, 2007
DOWNTOWN - In its heyday from the 1920s to the 1940s, the building at 719 N. Franklin St. was a beehive of activity.
There was a Walgreen Drugs on the ground floor, and upstairs there was a dentist office, technical school and dance studio. In 1926, the Tampa Theatre became the next-door neighbor; the block bustling with shoppers and matineegoers.
The building's new owners hope for a similar coming alive in a part of downtown neglected for years.
Architect David Bailey and investment broker Camille Renshaw have three tenants and seek more for the two-story building, which had three stories until a fire in the 1940s.
'The top floor just fell in,' Bailey said. 'It was common back then to still save the building.'
The current tenants are: The Hub Bar and package store, 719 N. Franklin St.; Bill's Pen Shop, 305 E. Polk St.; and Thai Corner Restaurant, 713 N. Franklin St.
Bailey and Renshaw, residents of Ybor City, have about 7,000 square feet to rent upstairs. Since paying about $1.4 million for the property early this year, they have spent time cleaning out the space. They also signed The Hub to a 10-year lease.
'We're very happy with our present tenants,' Renshaw said. 'And we plan to be very picky about what new ones come in.'
Renshaw, who's moving into the restored Box Factory Lofts in Ybor City, said she and Bailey also want to consider which businesses would complement The Element residential high-rise being built across the street, as well as downtown's revitalization in general. They would like an art-associated enterprise to move in but are looking for the right fit.
'Realistically, people don't lease more than 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, so we'll probably have several tenants up here,' Renshaw said during a tour of the front office, which features 14 tall windows.
Bailey said the building's origin can't be pinpointed. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's office lists the building as getting a kitchen in the 1940s. That's when McCrory's five-and-dime store was housed there, Bailey said.
'This area was a center of activity,' said Rodney Kite-Powell, curator of the Tampa Bay History Center. 'Certainly, for the north end of downtown, this is where people went.'
Kite-Powell said the three-story structure appears on the 1903 Sanborn map, which showed Tampa's early grid street pattern, but not on the 1899 map.
'My guess is that the building went in around the turn of the century,' he said.
He believes the portion of the building closest to Tampa Theatre was erected first, followed by the portion at Franklin and Polk.
'The building is rock solid,' Renshaw said of the concrete and steel structure.
Everything works upstairs, including the elevator, but Renshaw and Bailey said they will need to update the four sets of bathrooms.
'There were probably so many because this was open during a time of segregation,' Renshaw said.
'The place is filled with 1940s plumbing,' said Bailey, who once was a partner in the former Bustillo Bros. & Diaz cigar factory, 2111 N. Albany Ave., which was converted to offices.
The building holds other remnants of the past.
Bailey showed a locked closet that served as a cooler for prescription drugs.
'There's a humidity gauge in there,' he said.
By the breaker box, there's a dumbwaiter. Plus, Bailey said they found a meat slicer and ice maker from when McCrory's had a lunch counter, and a typewriter, prescription pad and receipts from the Walgreen's era.
'This is a key historical building,' Renshaw said. 'We want to give it the love and care it deserves.'
Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.
http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/14/st-a-hub-of-activity/?news