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Shoppers gone, so Bucs coming
By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- After searching the four corners of Hillsborough County for a new training facility, the Bucs finally found what they were looking for right next door.
"Everyone is focused on trying to make a new facility a reality," general manager Rich McKay said. "This should put us a step closer to completing that process." Besides the training facility, the site also could be used for additional stadium parking and other commercial ventures. Team officials would not confirm the purchase price for the 80-acre site at W Martin Luther King Boulevard and N Himes Avenue. It was valued at $19.43-million by the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office. The team, which has trained at One Buc Place near International Plaza since 1976, had hoped to build a new facility on 70 acres off Morris Bridge Road, near the University of South Florida. But Hillsborough County commissioners in September rejected the proposal, saying it was incompatible with the surrounding area. The Bucs had planned three lighted fields and up to 300,000 square feet of office space and indoor facilities. The team's current training facility, a complex of trailers and a main building, is considered one of the most antiquated in the National Football League. As part of the deal that built Raymond James Stadium, taxpayers will contribute $12-million toward the cost of a new training facility. The Bucs have been looking for a site since 1996. The team held its summer training camp last summer at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista near Orlando. The Tampa Bay Center property was purchased by First Allied Corp., a holding company for Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer and his business affiliates. Glazer's sons Joel, Bryan and Edward run the team's day-to-day affairs. Tampa Bay Center, one of the city's premier retail centers through the 1970s and '80s, fell victim to suburban competition and slowly lost tenants. In September, the mall lost its last tenant when Sears, Roebuck and Co. moved to WestShore Plaza. Since then, the future of the property had been linked to businessman Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who moved to Tampa two years ago and created DeBartolo Property Group. DeBartolo planned to convert the site into a series of large, standalone stores. Last month, DeBartolo dropped his plans, paving the way for the Bucs. But the Bucs could have another fight on its hands. "It will kill the neighborhood," said City Council Chairman Charlie Miranda, who lives next to Tampa Bay Center. "Who wants to live next to a practice facility?" Miranda said the land should be redeveloped into a mix of commercial space, medical offices and housing. The lights and noise from the practice facility wouldn't suit a residential neighborhood, which already is inundated with cars and fans on game days, he said. "I have a lot of concerns about that neighborhood," Miranda said. The Bucs have other options for the sprawling facility. "We've been hearing for some time that the Bucs were interested in the property," said Deputy Property Appraiser Warren Weathers. "Because of their stadium lease, they have special development rights on property surrounding the stadium." That means the Glazer family could pursue "high-end" development on the property: hotels, retail shops, restaurants and possibly an entertainment complex, Weathers said. Weathers added that the value of the property makes it unlikely the team would simply convert the mall into a practice facility. "If they're paying millions and millions of dollars for this property, it doesn't make sense from a business standpoint to just use it as a practice facility," Weathers said. -- Times staff writers David Karp and Jeff Testerman and researcher John Martin contributed to this report.
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Headlines From the Times local news desks |
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have purchased the shuttered Tampa Bay Center mall across the street from Raymond James Stadium for its new training facility, the team announced Friday.
