A Planet Staff Report
Admittedly, many in Tampa Bay have no idea what the giant white shed is. If they happen to drive by on Howard or Armenia avenues, and if they happen to notice it, the hangar-like structure is pretty unimpressive; the sign out front is dilapidated and holds a collection of unintelligible letters. The art deco details are there, on the turret and façade on the east side, but the building is not widely celebrated as an architectural masterpiece.
For many who are a bit longer in the tooth, however, The Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory is a treasure trove of memories.
JFK spoke at the Armory only days before being assassinated in Dealey Plaza. James Brown gyrated and funked his way through sets at the Armory. Buddy Holly strummed his guitar — always a downstroke, never up — and sang in his distinctive proto-rock 'n' roll hiccupping style. Pink Floyd. Johnny Cash. Martin Luther King Jr. Numerous proms, dances, wrestling matches, speeches and other public events are set in memory here. Who could forget Gordon Solie!
And, of course, there was Elvis. Thankyouverrrramuch.
The Armory has been largely vacant for more than a decade. The Florida National Guard has agreed to move out — if the deal is right. That leaves a 10-acre piece of property in the middle of an urbanized, poor neighborhood available for redevelopment. Tampa officials hope it will help spur more rebirth in West Tampa, once a proud and large city of cigar workers.
"We're looking at a project that has as part of its plan affordable housing, creates jobs for the neighborhood, and has a job training component," said Michael Randolph, executive director of the West Tampa Community Development Corp., which recently finished building affordable houses in West Tampa and which advocates for neighborhood voices. "We're talking about living wage jobs. We want jobs [where] folks can actually buy a house here in West Tampa."
Six groups have submitted redevelopment proposals. A committee of neighborhood leaders, city officials and Guard commanders will review the six deals on July 26 and could declare a winner — or at least rank the top contenders — at that time.
Bringing the Armory property back to life won't be an easy project, no matter who is chosen. The Guard will need to be reimbursed at least $6 million for improvements it made to the Armory and relocation costs. The city has not offered anything in the way of financial incentives. The winning proposal will also have to change the land use and zoning at the site, a lengthy process that could fundamentally change its dreams.
But the upside is huge. The endeavor would be one of the largest urban redevelopment mixed-use projects in Tampa Bay. It could become a destination for the entire Tampa Bay community, not to mention tourists. One proposal calls for a 5-story luxury hotel. Another would build a new ice rink. A third would convert the Armory to a film and television production studio. All but one would build new residences. Most include shops and offices.
"You're talking 10 acres of property in the heart of the city," said Cynthia Miller, the city's director of business and housing development. "It is probably one of the largest tracts of land in the West Tampa area that can be redeveloped and be a catalyst for West Tampa's redevelopment effort and for the entire city."
Several would-be developers have said they were told by the daily newspapers that there would be no editorial endorsement. We don't have an editorial board at the Planet — none of us is licensed to smoke a pipe or wear tweed jackets — but we do have the wherewithal to help guide you through each proposal and gauge their advantages and disadvantages.
We met with the six groups (one via telephone conference) to hear their pitch and ask some tough questions. How does your project benefit West Tampa? Is it really financially viable? Would it create good, living-wage jobs?
Sitting in on all six presentations were editor David Warner, senior editor Eric Snider, political editor Wayne Garcia and staff writer Alex Pickett. We scored the proposals on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest. Our average scores appear below alongside each proposal.
We applied our evaluation with a relative eye, giving a development team strong numbers if it has direct experience in what it is pitching. In other words, a shopping center developer has a strong team if it is proposing a shopping center, even if we don't think a shopping center is what the Armory should become.
Here are the six proposals. Read on and make your own decision.
THE ARMORY: FILM STUDIOS, CREATIVE OFFICES, RETAIL AND APARTMENTS
The Armory Partners Group, includes Tampa Digital Studios, DeBartolo Development, Marc Newkirk and former Tampa Bay Lightning governor David LeFevre
Criteria Armory Studios
Benefits West Tampa 4
Supports creative industries
Arts and culture 5
Team strength 3.75
Unique destination 3.25
Job creation 4.5
TOTAL 20.5
The Pitch: The team with the biggest names behind it has proposed one of the more ambitious revamps for the Armory. This proposal would turn the floor space in the Armory into film and television production studios. The offices that ring the ground and second floor would be rented to creative industry companies. "The big idea is to create a creative arena," said George Cornelius of Tampa Digital Studios, which has been in the hunt for this site for three years. Cornelius envisions Tampa as a competitor to Miami and Orlando (in Florida) and places like Austin and New Orleans as film and TV locations. The Armory Studios would provide that kind of space, as well as meet local needs for studios, infomercial sets and commercial production.
Cornelius says the success of the studio is not dependent on landing feature films. He has specific, realistic uses in mind for all but 18,000 square feet of studio and creative-office space. Tampa Digital spokesman Michael Piotrowski broke down the potential tenants as follows, adding that the group doesn't have signed contracts but has spoken informally with its network in the industry: "Besides Tampa Digital occupying about 10,000 square feet, you have, for example, a general production office, a caterer, a grip firm, a set design firm, Tampa Bay Community Network, a satellite office for local educational institutions, a transfer tape firm (which currently does not exist in the Tampa Bay area, but is needed), graphics/animation firms, high-tech firms, and so on. This is a creative cluster that will not only be fed by Tampa Digital, but also Creative Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum and other like groups throughout the Tampa Bay area."
The rest is being reserved for a sought-after television series based in Tampa and that would ideally do for this city what Miami Vice did for Miami Beach, the redevelopers said.
On the rest of the National Guard site, DeBartolo would spearhead the building of 300 apartment units in four buildings with self-contained parking and retail/offices on the ground floor. DeBartolo's Debra Roman said that as the condo market slows, there is a greater need for rental units, which would be priced at around $1,000 per month, which would be below the current South Tampa market price.
Pros: This proposal would create the best jobs of the bunch, and is the only one that includes a job-training component. It enhances the creative industries in Tampa Bay, a worthy goal. Cornelius has a strong connection to West Tampa and has talked about his studio dream with many of the top players in the neighborhood.
The notion of a film and television studio as a job incubator is not without precedent — the developers point to the Media Centre concept used in Great Britain. They have the support of local and state film commissioners. This proposal is also the only one calling for apartments instead of condos. Given the softening condo market and the dearth of rental units in South Tampa and West Tampa, that is probably a good idea. Finally, the group hopes to build an ice rink on nearby property, which would be a great addition to its Armory plans if it can pull it off.
Cons: The proposal calls for concessions, from using a historic tax credit to a phase-in of property taxes over 10 years. The developers say that is not onerous, since the site now pays no property taxes, and they are open to alternative tax relief terms. Another potential cost: The film industry in Florida is heavily subsidized with $20 million in your state dollars, so the jobs created here don't necessarily come without hidden government assistance.
The development team has lots of experience but not in developing residential or apartment complexes. We were also concerned about the number of partners and big names in this group, worrying that it added too many hands seeking a piece of the profits and could result in internal differences as the project proceeds. Finally, we thought the proposal was fuzziest about its apartment-retail component and was perhaps overly hopeful of how local businesses would fill the film/TV studio offices.
HERITAGE SQUARE AT THE ARMORY
Heritage Square LLC of Tampa, includes Coast Dental founder Terek Diasti; architect Stephanie Gaines; planner Michael English; Clearwater builder Alan Bomstein.
Criteria Heritage Square
Benefits West Tampa 3.75
Supports creative industries
arts and culture 4.25
Team strength 1.5
Unique destination 4.75
Job Creation 3
TOTAL 17.25
The Pitch: The most ambitious of the proposals, Heritage Square, budgeted at roughly $100 million, would include several components:
• The Armory building would be rehabbed to house specialty retailers and restaurants on the ground floor; upstairs would include offices intended for creative industry types, and affordable artist studios. The building would be flanked on two sides by an open-air, year-round farmer's market.
• A four-story, 200-300-room hotel that would aim to be Tampa's only 5-star establishment. "We're not proposing high-density housing," said CEO Thomas J. Marler, "because we don't see it as a beneficial use of the property."
• A luxury spa that includes a state-of-the-art fitness center and holistic health center.
• A public park styled after an English garden with ample shade trees.
• The West Tampa Cultural Arts Center would restore a red brick building on the site and make it a museum/meeting place for local organizations.
• Two parking garages (with room for more than 800 cars) with offices on the top.
Pros: Heritage Square has the potential to become a stunning showplace with diverse uses. If all goes right, it could become a real destination spot for the Bay area and beyond. Additionally, it's the only proposal that includes a park. We like the cultural center and its potential to serve the surrounding community. Because of this element, prominent West Tampa historian Maura Barrios backs the Heritage Square proposal, giving the proposal some serious street cred.
The developers envision the Armory building to be more a haven for local, independent merchants than mall staples like Banana Republic. The low-cost studios upstairs could provide a benefit to the visual artist scene. Overall, the project has strong architectural appeal, which would respect the community's history while giving it a significant upgrade.
Cons: Our biggest question mark is, quite simply, the hotel. The developers expressed their intention to build and run it independently, although they said they would seek affiliation with Preferred Boutique, a network of small, independently owned and operated luxury hotels. Hotels, especially the opulent variety, are notoriously risky propositions. Does the Howard/Armenia corridor need one? How would it benefit West Tampa, other than providing lots of jobs for busboys and maids?
Further, we wonder about how leasable the Armory retail space is. How many small cigar shops and dress sellers (two examples provided by the Heritage spokespeople) are going to flock into the building? This component brought to mind the bottom floor of the failed Ybor Square project. Although homing in on local businesses is admirable, it's probably prudent to expand the reach. And what of the year-round fresh market? Most Bay area fresh markets are weekend-only operations. Seven days a week is, we think, a stretch.
Finally, we have concerns about the Heritage team. The Chairman, Terek Diasti, built Coast Dental Services into a major success, and while he has a track record in entrepreneurship and philanthropy, how much expertise does he bring to development? CEO Marler, who is also head of Diasti's Intellident Solutions, has an extensive venture capital background, but little development experience. The rest of the team includes architects, designers, urban planners and marketing people, and their collective energy has brought a substantial dream (and wow) factor to the proposal. What the group appears to lack is nuts-and-bolts pragmatism. In our final analysis, Heritage Square is the sexiest of the proposals, but also the riskiest.
THE COMMUNITY AT FORT HESTERLY: ICE RINK AND CONDOMINIUMS
Reliant Development LLC of Tampa, includes architect/developer William Henry
Criteria Reliant
Benefits West Tampa 3
Supports creative industries
Arts and culture 2
Team strength 3.75
Unique destination 4
Job Creation 2.25
TOTAL 15
The Pitch: Blending live/work townhouses and small condos with an ice rink and events center, Reliant Development's The Community at Fort Hesterly attempts to fill a recreational need and create a demand to live in West Tampa's neighborhoods.
Partners William Henry and Robert Goen will spend $5.5 million of the project's $65 million total cost to turn the Armory's floor into a permanent ice rink that can be covered to accommodate community events.
"There is an incredible demand for ice time," said William Henry's son and project manager Matt Henry.
The younger Henry expects the central location of the Armory will attract local high school hockey teams that currently make long trips to rinks in Brandon and Oldsmar.
"I will assure you the issue for us will not be underutilization," Henry said. "It will be over-utilization."
In a break from other proposals, Reliant will create a nonprofit to oversee and manage the ice, sports and book events and an advisory board that would include neighborhood leaders.
On the north end, the company will build 32 live/work townhomes with street-level commercial space and above-store living quarters. In the middle of the property, a mid-rise of 280 workforce condominium flats will provide "attainable housing" (averaging $250,000) to "young professionals, families and seniors."
Pros: As a planner, developer and civic leader, Bill Henry certainly has the experience to complete a project of this magnitude. His plan is financially realistic, fills a community need and attracts residents from across the county to the area. The innovative approach of live/work townhomes — popular in other urban areas but lacking in Tampa — would likely attract architects, lawyers and other professionals with disposable income.
Henry is upfront about the armory's inability to generate income, but insists it is still important to keep.
"Maybe [the ice rink] won't draw big crowds … but we don't depend on that revenue source to make this viable," he said. "You can't afford to risk the armory. That's like putting the city hall to a private venture; you can't afford to lose it."
In a departure from common practice, Henry says alcohol will not be served at events inside the building to preserve the community-oriented nature of the project.
Cons: Like many of the projects, Reliant's ice rink and townhomes could fit on a number of other properties in the area. (The film studio proposal team hopes to do just that with their rink.) The two elements — events center and condos — seem at odds with each other in several aspects, including parking and noise problems.
Henry claims residents will have a say in the kind of events planned, but the question remains whether professionals will buy property next to an ice rink/recreational center. Although the final renderings are not complete, Reliant's initial descriptions of the mid-rise condominiums show the Mediterranean-styled buildings towering over the Armory, the Planet's offices and the rest of the surrounding neighborhood.
ARMORY EVENTS VENUE
Williams Holding of Brandon
Criteria Williams Holding
Events Venue
Benefits West Tampa 2.75
Supports creative industries/
Arts and culture 2.5
Team strength 2.25
Unique destination 4
Job Creation 1.5
TOTAL 13
The Pitch: Williams Holding intends to restore the Armory to its former glory as an events venue. Company president Roy Williams has extensive development experience and his senior V.P. Terry Trekas has promoted boxing matches in Tampa. This proposal involves only the south end of the property, which includes the Armory building, leaving the National Guard compound to the north of it alone.
"Look around Tampa, and all you see is planned urban development," Trekas said. "There's no originality. You can't tell Dale Mabry from State Road 60. Why can't the Armory be a place where people can go do something?"
Williams Holding is offering $1.83 million to buy the property, and plans to spend at least $3-million to transform the Armory into a 21st-century venue that can hold crowds of 2,500-3,000 for concerts, sporting events, trade shows, dances, conferences and other events. Although the company says it would produce some programming, it views the resuscitated Armory as more a rental venue for outside promoters.
Pros: This plan offers a very specific link to the facility's history. A new Armory — one that Trekas said would be brighter and more modern inside — could add to Tampa's cultural landscape. For instance, the room could be the perfect place to hold weekly Latin dances. Its location just off I-275 could hardly be better. The Williams Holding approach is certainly not a pie-in-the-sky idea. Tampa would run relatively little risk of having the proverbial white elephant on its hands — a white elephant that's begging for a bailout. The Williams plan would leave the option to do something bigger down the line, Trekas said. "We only get one shot at preserving" the Armory.
Cons: This is the least ambitious of the proposals. Although a restored Armory would have a certain built-in appeal, the simple fact is that Tampa Bay has a plethora of event venues. The enterprise would be thrust into an extremely competitive environment, one where show promoters have histories with well-established facilities. In this regard, Tampa Bay is a far different landscape from when James Brown and Elvis rocked the Armory back in the day. Trekas said that his group would like to see 50-75 events a year in the venue, leaving this community resource underused. The new Armory project provides little in the way of job generation and does not do much to enhance the city's arts and creative industries. The Williams Holding plan would also suffer a significant parking shortage should any of its shows draw more than 2,000. This was a potential pitfall that the group did not seem to have given much thought.
PROJECT FORT HESTERLY CONDOMINIUMS
Landmarc Realty of West Tampa
Criteria Landmarc Realty
Benefits West Tampa 2
Supports creative industries/
arts and culture 1
Team strength 4
Unique destination 1.5
Job Creation 1.75
TOTAL 10.25
The Pitch: Spencer and Jarrett Kass of Landmarc Realty are transplants from Long Island via Boca Raton, but they have quickly ingrained themselves in West Tampa as developers and real estate and mortgage brokers. Their energy is high; their understanding of the plight of West Tampa thorough.
Their proposal is among the simplest of the six: raze the Armory and other buildings on the site to construct 610 condo units, with more than 400 of them costing in the $200,000 range. Eight units would be set aside for low-income housing. "We wanted to have the workforce housing," said Spencer Kass. The project would also feature two parking garages and a central promenade of shops and restaurants that would recall Mizner Park in Boca or City Place in West Palm Beach. It is a $160 million project.
The Kasses' project has become the most controversial of the bunch because it is the only one that would tear down the Armory. They've famously said there is a difference between historic and just plain old, and they insist the Armory is the latter. Saving the Armory, they say, will take public money or incentives, something that eventually raises taxes. "What is saving the Armory building worth?" Spencer Kass said. "Is it worth one more person living in poverty?" They also question the ability of developers to fully remove asbestos present in the Armory building.
Pros: The Landmarc proposal doesn't ask for tax breaks or any government incentives at all. The vast majority of its condo units would be affordable, or at least more affordable than the ones in downtown high-rises. In that sense, and in its limited scope of condo-and-retail mixed-use, Landmarc's proposal is among the most realistic of the six — and therefore probably among the easiest to finance. Finally, the Kasses are sincere in their desire to help struggling families in West Tampa and not burden the tax base with their project. Their enthusiasm is infectious.
Cons: The Kasses are the only redevelopers with the cojones to question conventional wisdom of saving the Armory. Unfortunately, their project isn't a strong enough enticement to merit eliminating the structure, even though its historical value is not high and its "architectural splendor" is overrated. Landmarc's condos could be built just about anywhere in West Tampa, probably at a lower land cost than at the Armory. Some movers and shakers in West Tampa have expressed to us that they love the Landmarc proposal — just not at the Armory site. Additionally, we question the way the Kasses would turn their retail and restaurants into the center of the property and away from the surrounding neighborhood instead of integrating it into nearby offices and homes.
THE SHOPPES AT ARMORY PLACE
Coastal Retail Services of Atlanta
Criteria Shoppes at
Armory Place
Benefits West Tampa 2.25
Supports creative industries/
Aarts and culture 1
Team strength 3.75
Unique destination 1.75
Job Creation 1.5
TOTAL 10.25
The Pitch: Sal Biondo of Buford, Ga. and Steven Lee of Venice, Ca. hope to turn the Armory into an upscale gourmet supermarket complete with organic produce, all-natural meats and prepared dinners for neighborhood residents and commuters heading east and west.
"We're talking a gourmet supermarket with a lot of pizzazz," said Biondo by conference call; he declined to name potential tenants, but admitted Whole Foods was a possibility.
Coastal's $12 million plan, covering only the southern half of the property, includes adding a second story to the Armory for smaller national chain retail shops. If the National Guard moves off the property on its own, Coastal would build townhomes, or if retail is strong, another shopping "village."
Coastal estimates 50-100 jobs, exclusively retail, will be created.
Pros: With more than 125 years of combined experience, the developers behind Coastal Retail Services have built shopping centers from coast to coast. Coastal's plan would preserve much of the armory and build a center that may encourage investment in area housing. "I think we're giving them something that fits," Biondo says.
Cons: But couldn't a gourmet supermarket fit somewhere else? Biondo, the only out-of-state presenter, seems disconnected from the area and its needs. Except as a nearby place for residents to grab a gallon of milk, the high-end type of gourmet store is distinctly out of place among the poverty in West Tampa.
There is also the problem of market saturation; a Nature's Harvest natural food store sits less than a mile away on N. MacDill Avenue and a Fresh Market is being built at the intersection of Dale Mabry Highway and Henderson Boulevard. Would the area support another upscale supermarket?
There is the also the looming question of what the complex would look like; Biondo says his company usually works with the main tenant on design features and extending those across the project.
A supermarket is not the best use of this historical landmark and could fit in another West Tampa location. It does not serve the neighborhood by trying to fit a run-of-the-mill retail project into the constraints of the armory.
Historic Armory
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2006.