Franklin Street

[koopalicious]

"Every piece helps something else start," said architect Stephanie Ferrell, who owns a business at 1213 N. Franklin St. "Redevelopment is a synergistic process."

It's a shame that the street level of the building that this woman works in is wasted. What a great space that would be for retail.

[jonknee]

Work has resumed at the old Club 112 site. This is the same block as 915 Franklin that is having major work done. Maybe Tampa Live is gearing up?

I snapped some pics, it's all cleared out. Compare these to the ones I snapped back in September 2011. Sorry about the quality, it's quite dark in there and light outside, tough for white balance on a phone.

Club 112 Album - March 2012

[ATampaArnold]

Nice picks

[TampaMike]

jonknee, noticed that there was inside work going on on the building south of Kress last week. Normal repair work?

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

jonknee, noticed that there was inside work going on on the building south of Kress last week. Normal repair work?

Not sure, they have been doing a lot of work on the whole block. From stuff on the roof (removing some stuff, patching, etc) to removing the interior ceiling in one of the buildings. As far as I know it's to keep the code violation fines at bay, but it has been going on for quite some time.

[Jasonhouse]

^They had a lot of work to do to get up to code, which probably explains why they stalled so long.

[jonknee]

Interesting development at Kress, there's a public notice sign up about a certificate of appropriateness for "storefront rehabilitation". It's going before the architectural review board. Hearing date 7/9/12. Anyone have a guess at what that means? Perhaps more work is planned than cleaning up the code violations...

[jonknee]

There's a sign up next to Jimmy Johns about a Pita Pit coming soon. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the block is quickly filling up.

[koopalicious]

Originally Posted by jonknee

Interesting development at Kress, there's a public notice sign up about a certificate of appropriateness for "storefront rehabilitation". It's going before the architectural review board. Hearing date 7/9/12. Anyone have a guess at what that means? Perhaps more work is planned than cleaning up the code violations...

We can hope. However, I believe that storefront rehab is something that is usually handled by staff, so a public hearing leads me to think that they're up to some funny business.

[ATampaArnold]

I dont know what they are doing but they has been at least 3-4 people working in the building for at least 3 weeks. Actually I have seen them in all 3 buildings in that block.

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by koopalicious

We can hope. However, I believe that storefront rehab is something that is usually handled by staff, so a public hearing leads me to think that they're up to some funny business.

It's a historic building.

[koopalicious]

Originally Posted by jonknee

It's a historic building.

That's what the ARC is for... along with select districts. Still, most minor improvements don't need to have a public hearing.

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by koopalicious

That's what the ARC is for... along with select districts. Still, most minor improvements don't need to have a public hearing.

That's exactly why I am curious and posted about it.

[jamesk]

Why are the Kress buildings in downtown St. Pete and Orlando renovated and Tampa's Kress crappy?

[Jasonhouse]

Because the owners of the building going back for decades haven't done jack shit with it.

[ATampaArnold]

They should have increased taxes and penalties for dereliction of buildings

[Del Mayberry]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

Because the owners of the building going back for decades haven't done jack shit with it.

plus the two throrns in it's side don't help either (WW & Newberry)

[TampaMike]

Was reading this article about some RNC events and mentions that the Kress and Woolworth buildings will be used for a warehouse party. So mystery solved.

[jonknee]

So the new landscaping along Franklin street is in. Pretty big improvement and it runs from Fortune to Zack. They removed the uneven stone pavers (granite?) and either replaced with matching red brick or planters. Lots of jasmine. The fountain has been removed which is nice considering it had not been maintained and was just a breeding ground for mosquitos.

Irrigation was run as well so there's a chance this will look nice for a while.

I snapped a few pics today on my way to the office, here's the gallery.

[jonknee]

The Club 112 block is getting a big sprucing up before the RNC. They have even installed new awnings (wish there were more of those around DT, love the shade and rain cover as I walk home from work). New black awnings went up the other day and yesterday they took down the ones in front of 112, hopefully to replace them. I'd also love to see that orange go away.

The building on the North side of the block has gotten new stucco and it looks a lot nicer. The interior had previously been cleared out. This block is the same owner as Kress, so perhaps it has a tie in with the RNC as well. At minimum I'd expect they use the parking garage portion.

I'll post some pictures shortly.