Urban Land Institute coming to Tampa

[TampaMike]

Urban Land Institute panel will spend week visiting Tampa, finding ways to revitalize economy
By Mark Puente, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, October 8, 2011

TAMPA — A panel of experts from across the country will invade Tampa on Monday to offer suggestions on how to redevelop the city's urban core.

Experts from the Urban Land Institute's Advisory Services Panel will examine the central business district and all or parts of Tampa Heights, Encore, Ybor City, Channel District, West Tampa, West Riverfront, Old West Tampa and North Hyde Park.

The panelists will come up with recommendations at the end of the five-day visit, scheduled for Monday through Friday. The city wants unbiased opinions from experts outside the Tampa Bay area.

"It will give us the road map to stimulate economic development, spur community reinvestment, and make the central city area one of the most desirable places in the nation," Mayor Bob Buckhorn said in a statement.

The experts work in the fields of economic development, land use, real estate development and government operations. To pay for the advice, the city is spending $120,000 from a $1.4 million grant awarded in March by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The panel will tour the neighborhoods on Tuesday and conduct interviews with local officials, developers, real estate professionals, business owners and residents. Pasco County convened a similar panel for $115,000 in 2008 to develop better business regulations.

Tampa hopes the panelists can develop a master plan for the next 20 years and preserve the heritage of each of the neighborhoods.

"They have a great track record of doing these things," said Randy Goers, Tampa's urban planning coordinator. "They know what they are talking about."

The public is invited to participate in two events.

A public reception will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Straz Center for Performing Arts. And the panel will report its findings and recommendations at the Tampa Convention Center from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...ays-to/1195765

[Jasonhouse]

Total waste of money. Whatever they suggest will be ignored the instant it gets in the way of some good ole boy's desire to pocket some easy money on a development scheme.

[TampaMike]

I was just wondering, isn't this the job of the urban planning coordinator in the first place? Should the city just fire him?

[Lakelander]

ULI isn't going to tell people stuff they've never heard before. Urban core development isn't rocket science. We've been at this for centuries already. Sooner or later, you have to **** or get off the pot. Its as simple as that for Tampa and every other Florida city.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Lakelander

ULI isn't going to tell people stuff they've never heard before. Urban core development isn't rocket science. We've been at this for centuries already. Sooner or later, you have to **** or get off the pot. Its as simple as that for Tampa and every other Florida city.

Exactly. They'll tell us about transportation, green space, retail, and everything else that is mentioned for every city and there goes $120,000 from the city.

I do wonder though, will there be any discussion or planning of a stadium in Channelside come next Friday?

[Jasonhouse]

Please God don't build a stadium in Channelside.

[TampaMike]

Just hope ULI tells them that. And say that we have a afternoon game on a workday, imagine the traffic during rush hour.

[Casey]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Just hope ULI tells them that. And say that we have a afternoon game on a workday, imagine the traffic during rush hour.

Afternoon games on a workday are rare, and besides, every stadium I've ever been to has traffic issues when the game lets out. Especially those with stadiums in the CBD. People adjust.

[Jasonhouse]

I just don't think it should be in southern DT. If a stadium is built in Tampa, it should be in Central Park, or near Ray Jay.

[TampaMike]

Still stink the Greyhound tracks should be looked at, especially if a light rail system does develop along Nebraska Ave.

[Casey]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Still stink the Greyhound tracks should be looked at, especially if a light rail system does develop along Nebraska Ave.

Oh, yes. That's an absolutely wonderful part of town.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Casey

Oh, yes. That's an absolutely wonderful part of town.

Because the area just south of Tropicana is like paradise.

[TPAMAN]

The Tampa Apartments between Ybor and Encore would be an ideal site.

[DShenise]

None of the recommendations will matter until you get some decent sized company HQ's in the DT area. Its a money issue. Its expensive to build in Florida. Between poor soil conditions, water intrusion and wind, its terribly expensive to do anything properly. Therefore it ought to be damn expensive to live there, and not be a retirement haven. You need big companies with statewide or even better, regional HQ's in Tampa Bay. With the companies, come better salaries. Then you can start really getting excited about DT. Hell Oklahoma City has a heck of a DT, what do they have? Agribusiness HQ's. DT needs more than big law firms. How an independent panel is going to hand-wave a solution to this key problem is beyond me.

[Del Mayberry]

Your're right DS. Downtown needs a huge company to occupy most of or an entire building. Hurricane fears may be the issue somewhat, but look at Houston, way bigger than Tampa & more buildings and no stranger of hurricanes.

[DShenise]

Houston has oil and petrochemicals. Miami has tourism, but it also has significant international trade business and international banking. These things matter more than anything else. You can get a cool downtown like St. Pete if you are willing to accept that it will always be a cool little downtown. But if you aspire to more, you need big value added firms, and corp. HQ's. Its not a lack of vision, lots of people in the area have vision. The problem is for person with vision, there are 20-50 with a who cares, things are fine as they are attitude.

You can't change the nature of an area once its established. The midwest will always be kinda boring and conservative. NY will always be brash and loud. LA will always be somewhat superficial and alternate between laid-back and rush-rush. Tampa Bay will always underachieve, because its largely filled with the "who cares, things are fine as they are," crowd.

[Jasonhouse]

Also known as losers who gave up on trying to cut it in the business world.

[TampaMike]

I think Tampa should really look in the direction of South America for future expansions. Get on the ball before it starts rolling.

[DShenise]

It started rolling in the mid-60's through mid-70s. That boat sailed and it landed in Miami. TB and the west coast in general set their sights on the "endless stream" of retirees and snowbirds. Kind of a arrogant assumption, and its proved to kick the area's ass during past recessions.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by DShenise

It started rolling in the mid-60's through mid-70s. That boat sailed and it landed in Miami. TB and the west coast in general set their sights on the "endless stream" of retirees and snowbirds. Kind of a arrogant assumption, and its proved to kick the area's ass during past recessions.

Retirees, tourists, and home construction. Home's aren't being built, less people have been vacationing, and retirees are becoming poorer to afford moving to the state. We have no area in this state that will respond to strong economic growth and that will show once the economy starts rebounding. There's fields like Biomedical and Green Technology that is growing faster than anything else, but Rick wants to use hundreds of millions in incentives to get some corporation guys that will donate to his re-election and to hell with anything "green" happening under his term.