Might as well give it its own space:
Plan for Central Park unveiled
Developers want to use 28 acres of government property to create a mixed-income community.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published July 28, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - Developers with an interest in land adjacent to a downtown public housing project unveiled a plan Wednesday to combine their holdings with the government's and build a blend of low-income public housing and upscale condominiums.
Known as the Central Park Group, the developers outlined plans for redeveloping Central Park Village, a dilapidated 484-unit public housing complex just north of downtown Tampa.
They would combine the 28 acres of property owned by the Tampa Housing Authority with nearby land under contract for purchase by principals in the Central Park Group. That would let them create a 60-acre mixed-use, mixed-income community.
The development would include about 4,000 homes, with condominiums and townhouses with an average price of $300,000 and costing as much as $1-million. Public housing units would be mixed in with market-rate apartments.
"Nowhere do we plan on putting public housing as a stand-alone land use," said Bill Bishop, president of a Better Place Group. Better Place and Bank of America constitute the Central Park Group.
Current residents of Central Park Village would move into new homes either within the Central Park project or in other nearby locations developed by the Central Park Group as they were built.
"We need not ask any person to relocate from their home until we are in a position to provide them with a superior alternative home," Bishop said.
New homes would be available to everyone now living in Central Park Village who wanted one, Bishop said.
The first new units would be open by 2008, but as early as September of this year senior citizens in Central Park Village could move into new homes in Centro Place. Centro Place is a rehabilitation of the Centro Asturiano, a historic hospital now being redeveloped as seniors housing by Bank of America. Centro Place is about one mile away from Central Park.
The Central Park Group also wants to establish a 2.5 percent transfer fee of the sales price of finished real estate in the community from one homeowner to another. That money would go to charitable foundations that would pay for community programs, and toward the cost of operating and maintaining public and affordable housing in Central Park and other city neighborhoods.
The plan also calls for the Tampa Housing Authority to contribute its 28 acres to the project in exchange for a 33.3 percent interest in the land development effort, which Bishop estimates will be worth $1.6 billion.
The project includes retail space, an African-American history museum and public parks.
The critical piece of the Central Park Group's proposal is the assembly of land beyond the borders of the existing development. The group already has a contract to purchase the nearby Tampa Park Apartments and a retail complex on Nebraska Avenue, a total of about 22 acres.
To acquire additional properties, Central Park Group wants to establish a community redevelopment area, which provides tax breaks for new investment. It was the Hillsborough County Commission's reluctance to create such a district in 2003 that killed a plan by the for-profit developer Civitas to build a 157-acre master-planned community in place of the Central Park complex.
Bishop and Don Wallace, chairman of the Central Park Group, were key players in Civitas. Now their team is the only one bidding to redevelop the Central Park.
The 28-acre parcel is between Ybor City and the north end of downtown Tampa, which is the midst of residential redevelopment boom.
Michaels Development and Creative Choice Homes, the other two companies chosen by a selection committee to submit a proposal, withdrew from the competition last week after learning from Housing Authority attorneys that they couldn't join in a partnership on a proposal. John Weir, senior vice president at Creative Choice, said the two companies wanted to work together because they were competing with Bishop and Wallace, who had a two-year head start through their work with Civitas.
"The goal of our alliance was to offer a genuine alternative to Civitas," Weir said. "We regret the residents of Central Park, the Housing Authority and the city fo Tampa won't have a chance to evaluate that alternative."
Tampa Housing Authority spokeswoman Beth Leytham said the agency had no comment on the Central Park Group's plan.
"We're honoring the process that's been put in place and relying on the selection committee to go through it and make its recommendation," she said. In August a committee made up of county, city and Housing Authority officials will recommend to the Tampa Housing Authority whether to accept the Central Park Group proposal.
Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com
[Last modified July 28, 2005, 01:18:21]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/28/Hillsborough/Plan_for_Central_Park.shtml
Plan for Central Park unveiled
Developers want to use 28 acres of government property to create a mixed-income community.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published July 28, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - Developers with an interest in land adjacent to a downtown public housing project unveiled a plan Wednesday to combine their holdings with the government's and build a blend of low-income public housing and upscale condominiums.
Known as the Central Park Group, the developers outlined plans for redeveloping Central Park Village, a dilapidated 484-unit public housing complex just north of downtown Tampa.
They would combine the 28 acres of property owned by the Tampa Housing Authority with nearby land under contract for purchase by principals in the Central Park Group. That would let them create a 60-acre mixed-use, mixed-income community.
The development would include about 4,000 homes, with condominiums and townhouses with an average price of $300,000 and costing as much as $1-million. Public housing units would be mixed in with market-rate apartments.
"Nowhere do we plan on putting public housing as a stand-alone land use," said Bill Bishop, president of a Better Place Group. Better Place and Bank of America constitute the Central Park Group.
Current residents of Central Park Village would move into new homes either within the Central Park project or in other nearby locations developed by the Central Park Group as they were built.
"We need not ask any person to relocate from their home until we are in a position to provide them with a superior alternative home," Bishop said.
New homes would be available to everyone now living in Central Park Village who wanted one, Bishop said.
The first new units would be open by 2008, but as early as September of this year senior citizens in Central Park Village could move into new homes in Centro Place. Centro Place is a rehabilitation of the Centro Asturiano, a historic hospital now being redeveloped as seniors housing by Bank of America. Centro Place is about one mile away from Central Park.
The Central Park Group also wants to establish a 2.5 percent transfer fee of the sales price of finished real estate in the community from one homeowner to another. That money would go to charitable foundations that would pay for community programs, and toward the cost of operating and maintaining public and affordable housing in Central Park and other city neighborhoods.
The plan also calls for the Tampa Housing Authority to contribute its 28 acres to the project in exchange for a 33.3 percent interest in the land development effort, which Bishop estimates will be worth $1.6 billion.
The project includes retail space, an African-American history museum and public parks.
The critical piece of the Central Park Group's proposal is the assembly of land beyond the borders of the existing development. The group already has a contract to purchase the nearby Tampa Park Apartments and a retail complex on Nebraska Avenue, a total of about 22 acres.
To acquire additional properties, Central Park Group wants to establish a community redevelopment area, which provides tax breaks for new investment. It was the Hillsborough County Commission's reluctance to create such a district in 2003 that killed a plan by the for-profit developer Civitas to build a 157-acre master-planned community in place of the Central Park complex.
Bishop and Don Wallace, chairman of the Central Park Group, were key players in Civitas. Now their team is the only one bidding to redevelop the Central Park.
The 28-acre parcel is between Ybor City and the north end of downtown Tampa, which is the midst of residential redevelopment boom.
Michaels Development and Creative Choice Homes, the other two companies chosen by a selection committee to submit a proposal, withdrew from the competition last week after learning from Housing Authority attorneys that they couldn't join in a partnership on a proposal. John Weir, senior vice president at Creative Choice, said the two companies wanted to work together because they were competing with Bishop and Wallace, who had a two-year head start through their work with Civitas.
"The goal of our alliance was to offer a genuine alternative to Civitas," Weir said. "We regret the residents of Central Park, the Housing Authority and the city fo Tampa won't have a chance to evaluate that alternative."
Tampa Housing Authority spokeswoman Beth Leytham said the agency had no comment on the Central Park Group's plan.
"We're honoring the process that's been put in place and relying on the selection committee to go through it and make its recommendation," she said. In August a committee made up of county, city and Housing Authority officials will recommend to the Tampa Housing Authority whether to accept the Central Park Group proposal.
Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com
[Last modified July 28, 2005, 01:18:21]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/28/Hillsborough/Plan_for_Central_Park.shtml